326 Rockwell and Wetmore, Birds of Golden, Colorado. Ljuly 



quaking aspens and low pines. The males perched quietly in the pines 

 from 6 to 30 feet from the ground and gave their pleasant trilling songs 

 every minute or two. This song seemed louder and clearer than that of 

 J. h. hyemalis, but this may have been imagination on our part. One nest 

 which was found May 30, 1913, contained 4 fresh eggs and was built in a 

 depression in the ground under a thick net-work of low hanging branches 

 of a young Douglas Fir on a sparsely wooded hillside (Plate XXXIII, fig. 1) . 

 The nest was of usual construction and thickly fohated branches bending 

 down to the ground offered almost perfect concealment. The nest was 

 discovered by the female flushing noisily at a distance of several feet. 

 After June they disappeared, probably going to a higher altitude, and were 

 not taken again until September 19. They were fairly common during 

 the fall and became abundant with the other species of Junco the last of 

 October. Some of the females in the series have the rusty patch on the 

 back much paler than others. One immature female, taken November 7, 

 has a rufous hne on each side of the crown extending backward to above the 

 auricular region, while another of the same sex taken October 2, shows 

 faint rusty tips to the feathers on the occipital and nuchal regions. 



67. Melospiza melodia montana. Mountain Song Sparrow. — 

 Common resident, more abundant during migrations. Found as usual in 

 thickets and weed patches not far from water. All the specimens taken 

 come from the plains level, but on October 24 we heard one near a spring 

 on Lookout Mountain. November 14 the birds were common along Clear 

 Creek, though there was six inches of snow and the bushes were veritable 

 snow banks from the masses that had caught in the branches. 



68. Melospiza lincolni lincolni. Lincoln's Sparrow\ — First 

 noted May 2; comnion until May 23. None appeared to breed here, and 

 in the fall they were taken from September 26 to October 10. This bird 

 was found in the brush covered gulches and although frequenting the same 

 locaUties as the song sparrow, also occurred back in the foothills away from 

 water. 



69. Pipilo maculatus montanus. Spurred Towhee. — Summer 

 resident, very common. The first one was seen May 2, by the 16th they 

 were common, and by the 23d they were preparing to breed. The first 

 nest was found May 30 built under a bush at the edge of a bank. It 

 contained four fresh eggs and several more were found from then until the 

 middle of June (Plate XXXIII, fig. 2). The first young were taken July 18 

 and on this same date the males began to sing again, preparatory to raising a 

 second brood. They were moulting all through September and the last 

 one was taken October 17. These birds frequented the thickets and bushy 

 draws from the plains to the top of Lookout Mountain, and were noisy and 

 rather conspicuous. When pursued however they took good care to keep 

 out of sight in the bushes. The song was simpler than that of Pipilo e. 

 erythrophthalmus consisting usually of a simple trill, but there were many 

 puzzling variations which led us at times into looking for some new bird. 

 The ordinary call note was a harsh mewing "jo-ree " The call note of the 



