LINCOLN SPABEOWS 471 



and forward-acting associate. In habits, and in the niche which it occupies, 

 the Lincoln sparrow is similar to its better known relative, the song spar- 

 row. Its voice, however, is altogether different. 



The Lincoln sparrow arrives in the Yosemite region at least by the 

 middle of May. In 1919, near Chinquapin, the species was already present 

 on May 20. On May 18 and 23 the same year individuals were seen in 

 Yosemite Valley, and on May 28 (1911), a bird was noted in full song 

 near Happy Isles. On June 23, 1920, two pairs were located along drain- 

 age ditches in the field near Kenneyville. One bird was seen carrying 

 insects, so that young were doubtless being reared close by. This is an 

 exceptionally low station for nesting. From late May until at least the 

 end of July the Lincoln sparrow may commonly be looked for in willow 

 thickets between extreme altitudes of 6500 and 9000 feet. During August 

 we saw nothing of the birds; they were probably engaged in molting and, 

 being notably reclusive at other times, were then able to avoid observation 

 altogether. Nor were Lincoln sparrows of this race (lincolni) seen on any 

 subsequent date in the fall; they took their departure southward without 

 coming to our attention again. 



The Northwestern Lincoln Sparrow, or Forbush Sparrow (subspecies 

 gracilis), arrives in the region in the early fall. In Yosemite Valley, 

 Mr. Joseph Mailliard (1918, p. 17) took birds belonging to this subspecies 

 on September 15 and 18, 1917. Our own earliest record is for October 12, 



1914, when one came to grief in a mouse trap set under an overhanging 

 bank near the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. In January (1915) the 

 birds were noted almost daily at Snelling, and several were recorded at 

 Pleasant Valley and Lagrange in December (1915). 



The little we saw of the Lincoln sparrow in the Yosemite region gave 

 us the impression that the bird is much more retiring in its disposition 

 than the song sparrow. The latter often perches out on top of a bush, 

 at least when singing, and does much flying to and fro in the open ; but 

 the Lincoln sparrow keeps close within the thickets at all times. Its 

 foraging, and even its singing, is carried on beneath the vegetational 'ceil- 

 ing.' Unlike the song sparrow, the Lincoln sparrow has but a short song 

 period, restricted to the nesting season. 



A nest of the Northeastern Lincoln Sparrow was discovered on June 28, 



1915, in a dense gro^vth of willows covering a quarter acre or more on a 

 wet seepage slope near Porcupine Flat. (See pi. 49&.) The willows which 

 surrounded it were still almost leafless, and prostrate, having only recently 

 been released from their heavy blanket of snow. While walking through 

 the bog one of us chanced to step close to the nest, whereupon the incubat- 

 ing bird flushed and made off, dodging silently between the willow stems. 

 The nest was on wet ground, between two small streams a yard apart. It 



