The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-02-21

vantage Of bird boxes if they are put out
for him. Nesting time has not vet ar
rived for the birds OF this section, nor will
it begin until the trees and shrubs are
more perfectly in leaf than at present.
To build now would be simply to invite
marauders. Most of the small birds at
present fitting about are males awaiting
the arrival of their ladies from milder
climes. February Ia is more by tradition
than verify the great day of mating in
these parts. l noted, recently, the state
ment by Southern California naturalist
that birds do not like the eucalyptus trees
to build in, and the theory is advanced
that the pungent, aromatic odor of this
and of the pepper tree is repugnant to
bird nostrils.
1t has been my experience, here among
the foothills, that our birds build as freely
in the eucalyptus trees as anywhere else.
/ saw this morning, within 100 feet of my
house, no less than six nests of as many
different birds in the eucalyptus trees.
The oriole is especially fond of swinging
his airy cradle of a nest just where, near
its juncture with the main trunk, a bough
sends forth numerous little leafy branch
let's, and among the clumps of down.
dropping leaves that are apt to be massed
at the ends of branches the brown towhee
and various kinds of sparrows like to
build. l suspected a pair of the black
headed grosbeaks of having a nest last
summer near the very top of a tall euca-
lyptus, and the little goldfnch frequently
nests among the dense leaves of saplings.
The summer warbler also builds in the eu-
calyptus. L suspect the cause of the birds
avoiding these trees in certain localities is
the frequency with which the eucalyptus
plantations are visited by wood cutters
Birds are more intelligent than any other
of the wild creatures and are quick to take
warning from disaster. In a grove below
me, where the ak is busy every summer,
L have never found birds nest, while
they abound among the twenty-year- old
trees lmme diately about me.
This explanation may or NAV not be
correct. 1t is certainly more reasonable
than to suppose the odor of the tree is
offensive to birds, in whom the sense OF
smell is very feeble. Sight and not scent
is their reliance at all times. ga birdseye
view" is singularly comprehensive and
accurate vision. Neither the pepper tree
nor the eucalyptus is very largely visited
by insects, which may also have some
thing to do with the birds preference for
other varieties of trees. In my immediate
neighborhood l find the warblers and fiy-
catchers most affect the willows and the
dense, low-growing crossword. The
iCwel-like lazuli bunting builds in the
lupin and southernwood and among the
poison oak. / have known one pair to
build under porch roof close beside the
front door, and last year pair of gold
flnches built within loot of where I
passed dozen times a day. rarely went
that way without stopping to chirrup to
the little hen on her eggs, but she never
seemed afraid. Linnets and tiimice. wrens
and sparrows all have their nests in
little tangle of currant, crossword and
blackberry just below me, and in a near. by
canyon the nests of brown thrushes are
more plentiful than l should care to have
most schoolboys know.
ADELINE KNAPP.