254- BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



woods a short distance farther down, a gray-headed 

 j unco's nest was discovered after a good deal of patient 

 waiting. A female was preening her feathers on a 

 small pine-tree, a sure sign that she had recently come 

 from brooding her eggs. Presently she began to flit 

 about from the tree to the ground and back again, 

 making many feints and starts, which proved that she 

 was embarrassed by my espionage ; but at last she dis- 

 appeared and did not return. With quickened pulse I 

 approached the place where I had last seen her. It was 

 not long before she flew up with a nervous chirp, reveal- 

 ing a pretty domicile under a roof of green grass, with 

 four daintily speckled eggs on the concave floor. I 

 noticed especially that the doorway of the tiny cottage 

 was open toward the morning sun. 



At the timber-line there were ruby-crowned kinglets, 

 mountain chickadees, and gray -headed j uncos, while 

 far above this wavering boundary a pair of red-shafted 

 flickers were observed ambling about among the bushes 

 and watching me as intently as I was watching them. 

 I climbed far up the side of Mount Kelso, then around 

 its rocky shoulder, following an old trail that led to 

 several abandoned silver mines, but no new birds 

 rewarded my toilsome quest, although I was pleased 

 to learn that the pipits and leucostictes did not give 

 the " go-by " to this grand old mountain, but performed 

 their thrilling calisthenics in the air about its slopes 



