THE ^lOUNTAINEER. 



15 



St. Vitus dance to jerk them hither 

 or thither or up or doAvn without 

 clashing Avith their fellows. These 

 birds sweep down upon us in im- 

 mense numbers in middle autumn 

 and early winter, but it is not gener- 

 ally understood that many individu- 

 als find upon our Cascade heights as 

 congenial homes as upon the Barren 

 Grounds of the north. 



On the nesting grounds these birds 

 are somewhat better behaved than 

 during migrations, having defiinite 

 business to perform. The male sings 

 a variety of clinking notes having 

 something the quality of the Rock 

 "Wren's (Salpinctes obsoletus) more 

 familiar cadences; while the female 

 digs a deep cave in a sunny earth 

 and lines it heavily with dried 

 grasses. In this nest she deposits 

 four or five eggs which are so thickly 

 dotted with dark brown as to appear 

 of an almost uniform chocolate color. 



A bird somewhat similar to eye 

 but very different in structure, the 

 Arctic Horned Lark (Otocoris al- 

 pestris arctieola") was discovered by 

 Mr. Brown on the barren slopes of 

 Mt. Baker in June, 1905, leagues out 

 of its supposed breeding range. 

 Avhich is essentially Arctic. Moun- 

 taineers may familiarize themselves 

 with closely related forms, the 

 Streaked Horned Lark (0. a. stri- 

 gata) on the prairies south of Taco- 



nui. and the Dusky Horned Lark (0. 

 a. merrilli) on the sage brush plains 

 of Eastern Washington, so as to rec- 

 ognize this Arctic lingerer at sight. 



"When we are allowed to descend 

 among the stunted trees we may in- 

 vestigate the sources of the music 

 which has been floating up to us like 

 a sweet and alluring incense. Chief- 

 est among all the feathered bards of 

 Washington stands the Hermit 

 Thrush. The song of the Hermit 

 Thrush (Hylocichla guttata sierrae 

 or H. g. nana) is a thing apart. It 

 is sacred music. Having nothing of 

 the dash and abandon of Sage 

 Thrasher or Catbird, least of all the 

 sportive mockery of the Longtailed 

 Chat, it is the pure offering of a 

 shriven soul holding acceptable con- 

 verse with high heaven. No voice of 

 solemn-pealing organ or cathedral 

 choir at vespers ever hymns the part- 

 ing day more fittingly than this ap- 

 pointed chorister of the eternal hills, 

 ^lounted on the chancel of some low- 

 crowned fir tree, the bird looks calm- 

 ly at file setting sun. and .slowly 

 phrases liis worsliip in sueli dulcet 

 tones, pure, serene, exalted, as must 

 haunt the corridors of memory for- 

 ever after. 



Tlie Slate-colored Sparrow (Pas- 

 serella iliaea scliistacea) is given as 

 a resident of "the Rocky Mountain 



