TOWNSEND SOLITAIRE 599 



and early October of 1915, solitaires had congregated in considerable 

 numbers to feast on the then abundant, ripening berries of the western 

 juniper. The birds were busiest in the morning and along toward evening, 

 but the middle of the day brought only slight diminution in their activity. 

 Just as the sun came up over the rocky ridges to the east and touched the 

 tips of the junipers, the solitaires would break forth in song nearly or 

 quite as ecstatic as that of early summer, excelling in both quality and 

 volume all other voices in the Glen. Sometimes during the mid-day hours 

 one individual would give chase to another and occasionally a third bird 

 joined the pursuit. Not infrequently one or another of the group would 

 burst into song as it flew. No other bird of the Yosemite, except perhaps 

 the American Dipper, seems to have quite such a revival of song in the 

 fall as does the solitaire. The pleasant warmth of the mid-day sun and 

 the melodious songs of the solitaires made it difficult to believe that the 

 season was autumn. Only when one noted the dead dry herbage and the 

 falling leaves was the near approach of winter manifest. 



Examination of the ground beneath the trees where these birds were 

 assembled revealed many berries of the season, still green, which had been 

 pulled off, crushed in the bill, and then dropped. Not only were these 

 numerous, but dried berries of previous crops were found with similar 

 'bill marks,' indicating that in years gone by the solitaires had resorted 

 to these same trees during the fall months. A bird taken at this time was 

 found to have nothing in its stomach and gizzard except the berries and 

 seeds of the juniper. 



At Gentrys, on December 28, 1914, with much snow on the ground 

 there. Solitaires were plentiful, and were feeding on the dry berries of the 

 Mariposa manzanita {A, mariposa) , along with "Western Robins and Varied 

 Thrushes. 



The stands of golden oaks, so heavily parasitized by mistletoe, which 

 cover the warm sun-facing slopes on the north side of Yosemite Valley, 

 are extensively patronized by solitaires during the winter time. At almost 

 any hour of the day, from late September until the end of December and 

 possibly even later, the birds may be sought there with assurance. There, 

 as among the junipers, the diet is a monotonous one, consisting solely of 

 mistletoe berries, which the birds swallow entire. The fleshy part of the 

 berry is dissolved off, leaving a sticky-coated seed. Two of these were 

 found adhering to the tail feathers of a captured solitaire, and the excre- 

 ment of the birds contained many of the seeds. This suggests that the 

 solitaire is quite likely an agent, along with the bluebirds, in distributing 

 this parasite. This three-cornered arrangement between oaks, mistletoe, 

 and solitaires has probably been in age-long existence, fluctuating in one 

 direction or another according to the fortunes of the individual members. 



