Mar.,. 1914 AN ASIONINE RUSE 57 thought ?he h?d me going, and I'humored hYr to the point of absolute personal satisfaction. There was never trace of fur or feathers or gore on the deserted stage. The distress cries, always convincing, were never overdone, but ceased, as they should, after the first onslaught; yet if i did not yield a prompt obedience to. the lure, the Owl looked about reproachfully, and then redoubled her demon- strative wrestle with her alleged quarry. It was noteworthy in this connection that while other birds usually paid little heed to the notes of this Owl, however' terrifying in volume or tone, this distress cry commanded instant attention throughout the woods. 'The small birds began to chatter symp?tthetically/ while Crows and Magpies rallied as though at the blast of'a bugle. In fact, some nim- ,ble Magpie, as often as not, interrupted the play before it was half finished. This was the clew, if clew were needed, to the explanation. Your humble ser- vant was a big Magpie, who at the sound of conflict might be expected to rush forward and snatch the prize from the victor's grasp. Clever, wasn't it! And, parenthetically, your Magpie is evidently exactly up to that game, even if the stupid man failed to play to his lead. The illusion of this decoy ruse (whose further psychology I leave who will to explicate) was most complete; and even inside knowledge of the facts could not lessen the wonder how this Owl could so perfectly reproduce the shrieks of former victims. Possibly,--though the writer suggests this in all modesty, not knowing the full circumstance? attendant upon the other episode,--possibly, Mrs.' Bailey's 'Owl also carried her wood mouse in her throat. Santa Barbara, California, January 8, I9i 4. SOME DISCOVERIES IN THE FOREST AT FYFFE By MILTON S. RAY. WITH EIGHT PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR S PLANS for a sea-island trip allowed but a very short and carly visit to Sierran territory this year (I913), I selected Fyffe, at an elevation of 37oo feet in E1 Dorado County, in preference to points of higher altitudes. Fyffe has become rather famous, ornithologically, from the work of Barlow, Car- tiger, Welch and others, and in fact in this respect it is one of the best knox?n sections of the great Sierran chain. While the fact of the region having been so well worked rather suggested the advisability of going to les.? known localities, I relied on the chance that here, no doubt, as elsewhere in the Sierras, the lfird- life would l?e found varying from year to year in both abundance and variety ;' and owing, too, to the fact that each worker afield possesses meth6d? peculiarly ' his own, that one might still be able, perhaps, to add something new to the re- gion's fund of accumulated bird-knowledge. Besides this, too, I was desirous of treading in reality those well worn paths of fellow workers.' that I had already followed on printed page and in tantalizing photograph. My previous acquaint- ance with Fyffe was limited to glimpses.of the region while passing en ?oute to Lake Tahoe, and to a few hours afield on June 2, ?9oI. On ?his occasion, while about all .I located was a nest with four eggs of the Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) fifty feet up in a lofty pine, nevertheless I gained an insight into the
