THE OSPREY. 



55 



down I stooped to pick up my guu, and as I 

 looked up I saw a Virginia's Warbler fly down 

 from a tree and disa]ipear in the grass, right 

 above where we were. It took several minutes 

 to climb to the top of the rock and get a breath. 

 I thought I knew exactly where the bird 

 had alighted, but had miscalculated by a few 

 inches, and it took a couple of minutes to flush 

 her. Even then I had to hunt for the nest, 

 though I ha ' seen the bird leave the ground 



within three feet of me. The nest was under a 

 bunch of grass, and had a small opening through 

 which the bird passed. It was placed on the 

 side of a hill in exactly the same way as the 

 preceding ones. The bird was quite wild, and 

 we had to keep out of sight and wait several 

 minutes before we were able to shoot, though 

 we could hear her in the bushes a short distance 

 off'. 



A SUMMER TRIP TO YOSEMITE. 

 By Milton S. Ray, San Francisco, Cal. 



A more tiresome drive than over the arid 

 plains of the San Joaquin Valley on a hot 

 day can hardly be imagined. Scarcely 

 any life is visible, excepting numerous Ruddj' 

 Horned Larks, and even these .seek shelter in 

 the shade of the fence posts. We started from 

 Stockton on the morning of May 23, 1898, and 

 after driving all day reached Knight's Ferry on 

 the Stanislaus River. Here in the thinly wood- 

 ed hillsides I saw numerous Mocking Birds, and 

 the next day, on the ledg-eof a cliff, about 20 feet 

 above the river, I found a nest of the Valley 

 Partridge containing eight fresh eggs, Eeaving 

 Knig-ht's Ferry on the 26th, we made Jackson- 

 ville late in afternoon and pitched our camp bj' 

 the rushing Tuolumne River. 



Bitd-life was very abundant here, especially 

 Arkansas Kingbirds. Bullock's Orioles, and 

 House Finches. I found many of their nests in 

 the low scrub oaks. I also ran across a colony 

 of Phainopeplas on the hillside, where I took 

 three nests containing three eggs each and one 

 with two eggs: two others contained j'oung. 

 They were all placed near the top of small 

 scrub oaks. 



We resumed our journey on May 30th, and by 

 dusk reached Big Creek, at an altitude of 2,900 

 feet. Here at the beg'inning'of the timtier lands 

 we saw the tirst Western Robin on the trip and 

 several nests of the Barn Swallow were akso 

 found in deserted tunnels along' the creek. 



Two days later we had established our camp 

 at the foot of the Rnyal Arches, along the icy 

 waters of the Merced River. The first nests I 

 fouid were of the Western Chip])ing Sparrow, 

 Yellcw Warbler, Black-lieaded tirosbeak, Spot- 

 ted Sandpiper, and Western Robin. While 

 crossing' an orchard on June 2d, I discovered a 

 nest of Audubon's Warbler in an apple tree 

 about eight feet from the ground. The nest 

 was composed of fine rootlets, stems, and 

 grasses, lined with feathers and horse-hair, and 

 contained four fresk eggs. 



One day we took a trip to Glacier Point, 7,191 

 feet high, where the only birds I saw were a 

 solitary pair of Spurred Towhees and a few- 

 Black and White-throated Swifts. 



On June "nh I took two eggs of the rare Her- 

 mit Warbler (/V«fl';"<rc(7 c)("c/i:/£'«/(z//.fl. The nest 

 was placed in thick shrubbery (A:alca occidenl- 

 ii/is] along the river. The birds w^ere very bold, 

 particularly the female, which fluttered along 



the low branches almost at my feet. The nest 

 closely resembles five of the 'Vellow Warbler 

 which I took during my stay, except that it is 

 lined with grasses and a few hairs, the plant- 

 down lining of the latter being wholly absent. 

 The eggs have a greenish-buff ground color and 

 compared with those of Dcniinrca crstiva are 

 much smaller and more heavily marked. 



Among the tall pines, cedars and firs, Blue- 

 fronted jays. Band-tailed Pig'-eons, and Wood- 

 peckers were common. In the liveoaks, poplars 

 and alders along the river. Orioles, Grosbeaks 

 and Warblers kept up a continual concert. 



Sunrise on Mirror Lake, where the surround- 

 ing cliffs, some 5.000 feet in height, reflect in 

 the placid waters of the lake, makes a grand 

 sight. Tree Swallows are verj- common about 

 the lake, nesting in the lofty dead trees. 



Two eggs of Anna'sHummingbird weretaken 

 June 9th from an apple twig. The exterior of 

 the nest was prettily decorated with dark-col- 

 ored lichens. 



The last nest I found belonged to a pair of 

 Lazuli Buntings. It was placed in a wild rose 

 bush and contained three eggs. One was plain 

 pale blue, another had a few specks of light 

 reddish-brown, and the last was heavily marked 

 with the same color, principally around the 

 larger end. This is of very rare occurence. 



We started homeward on June 11th, making 

 Crane Flat (6,054 feet high) by noon, where we 

 stopped for a rest. A lonely pair of Mountain 

 Bluebirds seemed the only tenants of the de- 

 serted hotel and dilapidated out-buildings. Be- 

 tween here and Tamarack Flat (6,234 feet high) 

 the snow plant (Sairodcs i «//;,' /"«''") is very 

 common. Its brilliant, semi-translucent stem 

 and bells of a deep blood-red make it conspic- 

 uously the most beautiful flower in the Sierras. 



On June 13th we reached our former camp on 

 the Tuolumne, which had lowered at least two 

 feet during our absence. Although most nests 

 now contained young-, I had the good luck to 

 find four typical eggs of the Western Gnat- 

 catcher {P'olioplila arrulea ohsciira). The nest 

 was in a scrub oak ten feet from the ground. 

 Contrary to what seem to be the rule the ex- 

 terior of this nest was thickly covered with 

 lichens, and being a neat compact structure, 

 was hard to find. Leaving on June 21st w-e 

 arrived in San Francisco two days later with 

 out incident, and so ended this enjoyable trip. 



