Page:Condor3(6).djvu/47

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t84 THE CONDOR [ Vol. III were observed flitting about some manzanita bushes. Myadestes townsendi. Townsend Solitaire. One shot at Fyffe June 20, ?896 by W. H. Osgood. Mr. Beck found a nest built on the ground in the shell of burnt tree near Echo, containing three eggs. Mr. Taylor sent me four specimens taken at Glen Alpine Springs in September and one from Meyer's Station Oct 7, ?9o?. Hylocichlaustulata. Russet-backed Thrush. Observed to be fairly common along the wooded streams from Fyffe to Riverton. June ?t, ?898 a number were heard singing in the nmples bordering a small stream at Fyffe. On June 9, ?9 ? several were heard in a canyon between Pacific and Riverton. Hylocichla aonalaschkae. Dwarf Hermit Thrush. Observed at Placerville by Mr. C. A. Swisler during February, ?9o?, when a single bird was a visitor to his yard for about two weeks. An occasional winter xqsitant. Hylocichla aonalaschk?e sequoiensis. Big Tree Thrush. I first heard the song of this thrush about dusk in the tamarack timber west of Pyramid Peak and found it present in considerable numbers on a meadow near the summit of the stage road. The border of the meadow was thickly grown up with second-growth tamaracks, from the cover of which the thrushes sang with rare melody. I re- gretted that rapid trayel to our day's destination prevented my sitting and listen- ing to the delicious music which seemed to pour from all sides. Mr. Taylor col- lected an immature spccimen of this thrush at Glen Alpine Springs on Sept. ?6, t9o?. In June, ?896 Mr. Beck collected a nest of the Big Tree thrush above Echo, the nest being built 4 feet up in a pine tree, quite in contrast to the usual nest- ing site. The nest held four eggs. [Common wherever there is timber, and damp thickets of willow and alder above 6o00 feet.--W. W. P.] Merulamigratoriapropinqua. Western Robin. One of the noisy and enliven- ing birds of the entire region, nesting commonly at all altitudes. It is found in every mountain orchard, where the nests are built in apple or other fruit trees. More often pine and cedar saplings are selected as nesting sites, the nests being often placed in the tops of the trees, resting on a horizontal branch next to the trunk. They are composed outwardly of mud and grass and lined with grasses; the usual complement of eggs is four. Hesperocichla n?evia. During the winter of ?9oo Mr. Taylor sent me a varied thrush, which he had collected from a flock in the pines. [Observed at Slippery Ford, April 20, ?897. Collected on Silver Creek, Oct. ?, ?896.--W. W. P.] Sialiamexicana occidentalis. Western Bluebird. Common as far up at least as Fyffe. In ?898 a pair nested in a tall burnt stub at Fyffe, the cavity being near the top of the tree, while a pair of white-headed woodpeckers occupied a hole lower down. The bluebirds have returned to the same stub in subsequent years. Sialia arcfica. Mountain Bluebird. Observed from 5,5o0 feet upward. Mr. Atkinson found a nest at 9,200 feet altitude on Pyramid Peak, June ?o, ?9oo. The nest was built in a hole of a stub, about ?5 feet from the ground, and contained one egg. At Echo on June ?4, ?9 ot a pair were flying about numerous stubs on a meadow, where they were doubtless nesting. Observed commonly about Meyer's Station, where Mr. Taylor collected several in September. [In June ?896 I collected a male and female and several young of this form a mile or two above the Six-mile House, and a male at Fyffe. This is the lowest al- titude at which I have noted them. The arctic bluebird is one of the characteris- tic species of the great glacier-swept basins,--Rockbound and Desolation Valleys, nesting in the dwarfed tamarack pines, using holes excavated apparently by Will- iamson sapsucker. W.W.P.] Passer domesticus. English Sparrow. Recorded at Placerville by Mr. Chas. A. Swisler.