172 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



on their way to Pyramid Lake in Nevada, one of their favorite 

 breeding grounds. 



About noon we retraced our steps and started the descent of 

 the trail, h'stening all the way to the jingling notes of the jiincoes 

 as they gathered in little social groups in quest for food. A 

 Calaveras warbler proved a new find as we stepped out upon the road 

 again, having completed one of the most successful trips of the 

 num.ber allotted to Fallen Leaf. 



There were other trips as full of profit and rare finds as the one 

 to the Angoras. Glen Alpine, carrying all the beauty and charm 

 that its name implies, furnished endless material for profitable 

 quests. Here we found quail, fox sparrows, purple finches, warb- 

 ling vireos, pewees, m.any varieties of warblers, the fascinating 

 ouzel and the hummxrs; in fact every bird in the region seemed 

 to pay allegiance at some time or other to this locality. 



Another trip toward Tallac, through hedges of choke cherry, 

 deer brush, service berry and coffee berry, introduced us to a 

 Towrserd's solitaire, an evening grosbeak and a pair of Western 

 tanagers, — all within close range at the same time. An olive-side 

 flycatcher, that shy fellow who keeps himself so high above the 

 rest of his com.panions that one rarely ever steals sight of him, 

 rr.ade the air vibrate at times with his continuous, insistent call. 

 A la.zuli bimting, too, was heard but we were not fortunate enough 

 to locate this beautiful specimen. 



.Cne day, toward the end of our stay, we located two nests, — 

 one of the Calliope htimm.er, the other of the Western wood pewee. 

 These nests were on opposite trees, well exposed, but still diffi- 

 cult to observe, especially the hummers' as it appeared more 

 like a slight hump on the crotch of a limb. Every afternoon 

 thereafter we sat on the porch of a little eyrie and watched the 

 patient parent pewees feed and care for their young. They took 

 turrs in leaving the nest, catching an insect, which they made 

 known by a quick snap of the bill, flying back and fluttering afft^c- 

 tionately over their young while they fed them the dainty 

 morsel. It took each parent about three and a half minutes to 

 com.plete this operation. Their lives were somewhat menaced 

 by the haughty jays that hovered around in an effort to plunder 

 the little brood, and while we admired the coloration of this 

 latter bird, we agreed then and there" that beauty is only skin 



