Some Actions of a Pair of Pallid Wren-Tits at Their Nest
Some Actions of a Pair of Pallid Wren-tits at their Nest
It was interesting to me to observe on May 15, 1932, the actions of a pair of Pallid Wren-tits (Chamaea fasciata henshawi) at their nest. I was forcing my way through some heavy brush on a ridge in the western part of Solano County, California, adjacent to Wildhorse Valley. The scolding notes of both of the birds upon my approach to a certain section of the chaparral strongly suggested that I was near their nesting site; but upon sighting one of the birds after it had dropped to the ground under the brush, fluttering its wings rapidly as does a young bird expecting to be fed, and moving forward as though with considerable effort, seemingly with legs too weak to hold it off the ground, I was almost fooled into believing the parents had young out of the nest. The bird on the ground had ceased its protest after assuming the ro1e of an immature or disabled bird; but a minute or so of silence was too much for it, and, as I watched, it hopped up into the brush and began to scold me again. Then both of the birds feigned helplessness, apparently in an effort to attract my attention and to lead me away.
I looked for the nest and located it some six feet away neatly fastened into the crotch of a scrub oak, three and a half feet up. The contents of the nest appeared to be five large reddish-yellow, open mouths, but looking below this display of open bills I found little birds with eyes not yet open. My approach to the nest caused still more concern on the part of the parents who all but lit upon me in their anxiety, intermittently scolding and practicing the distraction ruse. Several times the birds lit upon a short stick, which I carried in my hand for the purpose of helping me to part the brush.
After I had departed and was some fifty feet away a song made up of the characteristic staccato notes of this white-eyed species, coming from near the location of the nest, seemed to signify a sigh of relief at my departure.
Emerson A. Stoner
Benicia, California, May 25, 1952
