THE OSPREY. 



79 



" Up to 5000 feet altitude the Black-headed Gros- 

 beak was common, nesting, and on June 11 the first 

 Bullock's Oriole was seen at 4600 feet, and none 

 were seen higher than this. About this time also 

 appeared Slender-billed xNuthatch, Western Gnat- 

 catcher, Arkansas Goldfinch and Mourning Doves in 

 good numbers. The Plumed Partridge, the most 

 characteristic bird of the region, was very numerous 

 from 3500 to loooo feet altitude, but only two sets 

 of eggs were found ; one set of 10 eggs, July 6, 9500 

 feet, the other set, of 11 eggs hatched July 10, 7000 

 feet. The nest is a much more pretentious structure 

 than that of the Valley Partridge. 



"Yellow Warblers were quite common up to 6500 

 feet altitude. Several nests of Hammond's Fly 

 catcher, containing 4 eggs each, were noted, none 

 over 6 feet from the ground, in low bushes. Spotted 

 Sandpipers were seen along the gravel beaches up to 

 loooo feet altitude and several sets taken. Cassin's 

 Purple Finch was very numerous, but only one set 

 of eggs seen 



" One of the most interesting birds met with was 

 the Spotted Owl. From 5000 to 7000 feet altitude 

 they were heard nearly every night. The note or 

 call is a very curious one, resembling the bark of a 

 dog, given once, then after a momentary pause, twice 

 in quick succession, then pause, then a long-drawn 

 fourth ' bark. ' Only one specimen — a female — was se- 

 cured. The Dwarf Hermit Thrush was very scarce, 

 only a few being heard. Morning and evening are 

 chosen times for their singing, and perched upon the 

 tip of a fir or cedar, they utter one note after an- 

 other, each of such sweet, sonorous depth, and com- 

 bining in such perfect harmony, that the woods are 

 flooded with music. The Dipper is famed for his 

 vocal powers, but must yield the palm to the 

 Thick-billed Sparrow ; yet the Sparrow must in turn 

 bow to the superior sweetness of the song of the 

 Dwarf Hermit Thrush. 



" Owing to various complications our progress was 

 delayed for two weeks during the best part of the 

 season, so that on resuming our journey on June 23, 

 at 4600 feet altitude, no more eggs were found until 

 July I, at 7000 feet, when a nest and 3 eggs of Thur- 

 ber's Junco was taken, and from thence to loooo 

 feet Sooty Grouse were plentiful, often heard hoot- 

 ing in the pines. This bird is a great ventriloquist. 

 At from 8000 feet to the Summit and on the east 

 slope we met with hundreds of Clark's Nutcrackers, 

 a few pairs of Golden Eagles, and two families of 

 Bald Eagles were noted ; also numbers of Black 

 Swifts among the high clitts of Sonora and Walker 

 Passes. At a lake at the head of Walker Pass, 

 loooo feet altitude, were found a few pairs of Wil- 

 liamson's Sapsuckers, Mountain Bluebirds and Rocky 

 Mountain Creepers breeding. There were also one or 

 two Red-shafted Flickers, and strange to say, two Mag- 

 pies. On July 4 we obtained, in the snow, the only 

 pair of Gray-crowned Leucostictes seen on the trip. 



"On the borders of the lake, between July 2d and 

 8th, fresh sets of Green-tailed Towhee, Western 

 Wood Pewee, White-crowned Sparrow and Lincoln's 

 Song Sparrow were obtained, also a set of Spotted 

 Sandpiper. 



On July 8 we regretfully started homeward after 

 spending 10 weeks of pleasant days among the pines, 

 the cliffs and the snow, in the bosom of Nature, and 

 many miles from Nature's enemy — Man." 



A sketch by H. R. Taylor was read, entitled, 



THE BLACK RAIL IN CAPTIVITY. 



"It was my good fortune in the latter part of 

 November, 1897, to secure a specimen of the rare 

 Black Rail, Porzana jaiuaicensis. I secured the little 

 fellow alive, carrying it home safely in a cartridge 

 box, and the few notes I have now to record are 

 perhaps the first observations taken on the habits of 

 this interesting species in captivity. We were hunt- 

 ing California Clapper Rail along the bay shore in 

 San Mateo County taking advantage of unusually 

 high tides which then covered the marshes. The 

 Rail would be seen swimming in the shallow water 

 or hiding in the clumps of marsh grass, and it was 

 here while poleing the hunting boat about for the big 

 fellows that my brother shot a Yellow Rail, one of 

 the few recorded in this state, and here also we shot 

 a number of Virginias and Soras and encountered 

 several individuals of the diminutive Black Rail. 

 The Black Rail we saw would fly up sometimes with 

 others and several alighted for refuge, after circling 

 in irregular flight, in bunches of bushy weeds, being 

 still within range. They are seldom if ever shot at 

 by hunters and are very unsuspecting little creatures, 

 allowing the boat to approach within half an oar's 

 length from where they are hiding. In this way I 

 struck the one I captured with the blade of the oar, 

 and stunning it but for a moment, took it alive. 



"The little Rail spent the night comfortably in 

 the cartridge box, and on my arrival home was put 

 into a cage where he at once became at home. His 

 tameness was surprising. He made no attempt to get 

 out and walked about looking sharply with his bright 

 eyes as though he had always known a prison. I 

 fed him a wriggling earth worm and the effect was 

 wonderful to see. The wee Rail ruffled up his 

 feathers in fighting trim and attacked the worm vig- 

 orously. A worm will turn, and Porzana thrust at it 

 every time. Then he jerked it up in the air and 

 after a few gulps it went down, whole. Eight worms 

 for breakfast were none too many for the Black Rail. 

 Although quick to see and active enough with his 

 bill the movements of this Rail were very deliberate. 

 Such were his steps about the cage, and if he moved 

 his head it was the same ; only the eyes were vigilant. 



"When the Black Rail is asleep he is no longer a 

 rail. He has become simply a ball of feathers as 

 big and almost as round as an orange, and coming 

 upon one in such a position you would more readily 

 believe it were some strange animal than a bird. 



