Image from the Biodiversity Heritage Library.
Contributed by Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley.
| www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Transcription
16.
this was grass. I believe that in
places where grass doesn't grow
on a live Knoll or Vantage
point (where they can watch for enemies
while feeding) they require the protection
of Sage under which they can feed
& also upon. Found a few large
& well traveled holes going then
the plug & coming out on top
of the terrace where they could
enter sage-grass area unperceived.
Rock barricades to their burrows
(talus slopes) are not always
essential because a Malmot
was shot from a vertical
sand bank overlooking the
stream 15 ft. up. This was a
yng. however & so it may have
deen shoved into the periphery
of its home domain. The
case of there being a sentinel
in the colony is neither the
rule nor the exception. Those
that were out weren't on the
highest vantage point & didn't
Mark at our approach.
A Black-billed Magpie's
nest was found nearby about 12'
up in a dense Willow over the
marsh. The bulk of the nest
was a heavy mud cup about
18" in dia. & sloping to a point
on the bottom to fit into
the crotch. The top was loosely
draped over [25' thick] with sticks
(thorny) from dead bushes. Were