202 THE CONDOR Vol. XV willow thickets along Trout Creek. Here I found the Traill Flycatcher (Empi- donax trailli trailli) and the Yellow Warbler (Dendroica aestiva brewster 0 very abundant, six nests of the former and four of the latter being located. Those of the flycatcher were all placed in willows close to the water at an average height of four feet above the ground and were remarkably similar in construction, being made of bark strips, grasses and vegetable fibers, and lined with horsehair. All the nests held either three or four eggs, which varied from fresh to some well along in incubation. The nests of the warbler, being a much earlier nesting bird, contained both eggs and young in various stages. I Fig. 56. ONE OF THE ALPINE LAKES IN DESOLATION VALLE? NEAR PYRAMID PEAK, CALIFORNIA The last nest, which I found late in the afternoon of July x, important only on account of the extremely late date, was one of the Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) in a sand bank six feet above water and dug to a depth of four feet seven inches. The eggs, seven in num- ber, were but slightly incubated and lay on a bed of small fish bones. The sit- ting bird did not leave until I was almost through excavating. Previous nests of the bird in the Lake Valley region have all held large young by the first of June.
