Vol. XXII 

 1905 



Grinnell, Summer Birds of Mount Pinos, Cal. ^87 



{Artemisia and C/irysot/iam/nis). One nest contained three eggs and one 

 newly-hatched young, and another held two eggs and one young. Most 

 of the nests were by this time vacant. In structure the nests of the 

 Brewer Sparrow very closely resemble those of the Chipping Sparrow, 

 as might be expected from the close similarity between the birds them- 

 selves. It is worthy of remark that in no place in this regton did the 

 local ranges of these two species overlap. 



44. Spizella atrogularis Cabanis. Black-chixned Sparrow. — The 

 Black-chinned Sparrow was also an inhabitant exclusively of the sage 

 belt, along with the Brewer and California Sage Sparrows, but in not 

 nearly so large numbers as the latter two species. In the vicinity of 

 Seymour Creek Meadow, between 5500 and 6000 feet, there were perhaps 

 but half a dozen, as the same individuals were probably seen and heard 

 repeatedly. We were fortunate enough to run across a nest of the 

 Black-chinned Sparrow, June 2S. This was a very flimsy affair, lacking 

 the neat internal appearance and general compactness for which the nests 

 of the Chipping Sparrow are notable. It was built among the slanting 

 twigs of a sage bush, 2 feet above the ground, and contained two small 

 young. 



45. Junco hyemalis thurberi Anthony. Sierra Junco. — Juncos were 

 numerous from 7000 feet to the summit, and full-grown young were seen 

 soon after our arrival. The birds showed evident preference for the 

 small springy meadows, especially those on the north side of Mount 

 Pinos, where the steep slopes and dense firs contributed to maintain a 

 cool shade. On the sunny side and at lower altitudes parents and young 

 were to be met with feeding on the ground among bushes, often in com- 

 pany with Chipping Sparrows and Bluebirds. On the north side, below 

 the spring nearest the summit, I found two nests, July 11. These were 

 both discovered while I was setting a line of mouse traps along the little 

 stream, and both were so artfully concealed that the most careful direct 

 search would have failed, had I not almost trodden upon the sitting 

 birds, which thereupon flew out from under my feet. The nests were in 

 each case sunk into the sod, so that the rims were flush with the sur- 

 rounding surface, and overhung by prickly goose-berry bushes. Each 

 contained three eggs, incubated but slightly. 



46. Amphispiza belli canescens Griunell. California Sage Spar- 

 row. — The California Sage Sparrow was an abundant bird in the val- 

 leys of the region, occurring coextensively with the sage-brush {Artemisia 

 tridentata and Chrysothamnus mohavensis). Juveniles were nearly all 

 full-fledged by the last of June. I was surprised to find several bands of 

 full-grown young among the gooseberry bushes {Ribes cereum) on the very 

 summits of both Mount Pinos and Sawmill Mountain. These may pos- 

 sibly have been reared there, but I think more probably had recently 

 wandered up from the sage slopes which in places stretch up to fully 6500 

 feet on the south sides of the mountains. The nine specimens preserved 

 struck me at once as differing from the Bell Sparrow of the coast region 



