186 THE CONDOR Vol. XIV sible. The Rosy Finch is distributed over a wide range of country, the Pine Grosbeak over a very restricted area. The eggs-of the rupicoline Rosy Finch defied a small army of searchers for 79 years; those of the arboreal Grosbeak, but a small fraction of that number, for 49 summers. From this comparison all can draw their own conclusions as to the relative rarity and to the comparative difficulty of securing the' respective first sets. The following description of the male Pine Grosbeak collected with. the type set serves to show how birds in this "yellow" phase of plumage are almost, if not entirely, indistinguishable from the females in coloration: General color of body plain gray; wings and tail somewhat darker. Most of the wing feathers, both quill feathers and coverts, edged with whitish. Tail feathers edged with the same grayish shade as the body color.' Top of head and cheeks coppery yellowish, this color extending in disconnected spots onto the dorsum. A small spot of the same yellowish color on the rump. While the rich poppy red plumage of the male California Pine Grosbeak is not so conspicuous as the bright yellow of the Louisiana Tanager or Western Evening Grosbeak, it is, nevertheless, one of the most beautiful of all Sierran birds. Campers, tourists and summer residents often described the Tanager, which is a common bird in the region, asking us its identity; and sometimes, too, the Evening Grosbeak had attracted their attention. But when we, in turn, gave a description of the Pine Grosbeak scarcely anybody ever recollected seeing such a bird, and when they did we soon found they were confusing it with the very abund.ant Cassin Purple Finch. The resemblance to this bird is, however, only slight. The California Pine Grosbeak, both in form and flight is a rather grace- ful bird, for although somewhat plump in build this is equalized by the long wings and tail. Although Price states that he saw the Pine Grosbeak usually in company with the Cassin Purple Finch and the Western Evening Grosbeak it may be of interest to note how widely experience may differ, for on no occasion have we ever seen the bird associating with a?y other species. On June 20, the day after the two sets of eggs were collected, Littlejohn desiring to secure a Rosy Finch before leaving and I to investigate the nidologi- cal possibilities of the wild woodland that surrounded a certain alpine lake, started up the southeast slope of Pyramid Peak. As we ascended, we could see approaching from the west a lofty wall of huge, brownish, storm clouds extend- ing north and south as far as the eye could reach. From previous experience in these altitudes we needed no barometer to tell us that a great storm was ap- proaching, and curtailing our trip afield as much as possible we returned to camp several hours before noon. Under the circumstances, the principal work of the trip having been accomplished, hasty preparations were made for an immediate departure; for already the sky was clouding and a gusty wind wailing along the meadows. During our absence close to the cabins Heinemann saw the last Pine Grosbeak of the year, the eighteenth bird to be recorded. The following ta,ble gives a summary of our seasoh's work afield. Where the same birds were seen on succeeding days their occurrence is not recorded. Although Heinemann heretofore has not engaged in ornithological work afield I have counted his mileage on the present trip, as he made it a point to familiar- ize himself with the Grosbeaks both by sight and song. Leaving Forni's at 2:40 v. ta. we took a very direct trail down precipitous mountain sides to Echo which we reached at 5:40 P. ?a., and later Phillips' at
