346 OHNITUOLOGY. 



leavhig- Waslioe Valley, and observed, for the first time that .spriiig, Dcn- 

 droeca festiva, Cyanospiza amccna, and Icterus hullockV 



11. Carson City, Nevada (November 25-December 4, 1867 ; January 

 13-April 29, 1868).— Carson City (altitude 4,700 fest) constituted a central 

 point from which investigations radiated to localities of very dissimilar char- 

 acter; the pine -forests of the Sierra Nevada to the west, and' the scant 

 groves of low gnarled cedars and pifion on the otherwise bare ranges to the 

 eastward ; the grassy valley of the Carson River, with its thickets of small 

 willows ; the cultivated fields, and the general open waste of sage-brush 



plain. 



a. Pines of the Sierra Nevada. 



The i)ine-forests of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada had ori;.>in- 



ally extended from the timber-line, near the summits of these high mount- 



a'.ns, down to their very base, ceasing abruptly where the valley began, 



except in a few places where they stood out in scattered groves upon the 



edge of the gentle slope at their foot; and, although composed of trees far 



less tall and massive than those on the western slope, were yet quite as 



dense and continuous, where left untouched by the hand of man. But, 



'The dates of arrival of spring birds iii western Nevada, in 1868, were as follows, 



so fiir as noted : — 



Along the shore of Washoe Lalie. 



1. Fiilica americana May 9. 



1. Sterna rofiia May I). 



3. Ilydioclit'litlon larifonnis May 9. 



In Steamboat Valley. 



4. Deudroeca sestiva May 9. 



5. Cyanospiza anio-na May 9. 



6. Icterus bullociii , May 9. 



Along the Tnickee, at Truclcee Meadows. 



7. Geotlilypis triclias M;iy 10. 



8. Icteriii longieauda May Kt. 



9. Pyranga ludoviciaua May 10. 



In the lower Truclcee Valley. 



10. Carpodacns frontalis May 1.3. 



11. Ainpliispiz:! l>iliii('ata Miiy l.'!. 



12. liliyjicopliiiiis soiitaiius May l.'i. 



13. Uedynieles niehinoceplialus Miiy H. 



