THE OOLOGIST 



Two Weeks Collecting in the High 

 Sierras. 



H. W. Carriger. 



On several Sundays in the early part 

 of 1910 I had the pleasure of being 

 afield with Mr. Milton Ray and he 

 seemed never to tire of telling of the 

 wondrous beauty of the high Sierras 

 and the many good ological treasures 

 to be found there so that by the time 

 that May rolled around I made up by 

 mind to spend my two weeks about 

 Lake Tahoe. 



On the evening of June 2d I left the 

 office at 5 p. m. and taking dinner at 

 a nearby cafe I caught the 6:40 boat 

 from San Francisco and connected 

 with the 7:15 train at Oakland pier 

 and was on my way to the mountains. 

 The train followed along the water 

 front for some distance and the only 

 bird noticed before darkness shut from 

 my view the surrounding country was 

 a single Black-crowned Night Heron. 



For a description of the trip to the 

 Lake see Ray in the Condor for July- 

 August, 1910. 



Though we spent an hour about 

 Truckee I did not do any collecting 

 and bird life about the town was very 

 scarce, the trip from Truckee to the 

 Lake was along the Truckee River and 

 much grand scenery was to be seen 

 here. By 9:30 a. m. on the 3d I was 

 at the Tavern, a famous resort on the 

 Lake, and from here I got my first 

 view of that magnincent body of wa- 

 ter, Lake Tahpe. 



Lake Tahoe once seen will never be 

 forgotten, 6250 feet altitude, 30 miles 

 long and 13 wide, surrounded on three 

 sides by mountains, some 11,000 feet 

 high and covered by snow the entire 

 year while virgin forest is to be found 

 about its edges; the water near shore 

 or in the shallow places is of a green- 

 ish or emerald color while out from 

 shore where it becomes deep it is a 

 dark bluish black, near shore owing 



to clearness of the water one can see 

 bottom for 100 of feet and numerous 

 fish are seen swimming about while 

 the pebbles on the bottom seem but a 

 few feet away. 



A trim little steamer makes daily 

 trips about the Lake stopping to de- 

 liver the mail at each of the various 

 resorts along the shores, my destina- 

 tion was Bijou and as I boarded the 

 steamer at 10:15 my stopping place 

 was pointed out to me and I was told 

 that we would be there by 2 p. m., 

 which seemed to me to be about three 

 hours longer than was necessary but 

 you soon get used to the deception 

 as regards distances in this country 

 where the clear air is very deceiving. 



T was met at Bijou by Ray who had 

 proceeded me by two weeks and we 

 were soon at the tent where Ray had 

 prepared a meal to which I did ample 

 justice, by the time I had finished 

 Ray had my shelter tent in place and 

 I was soon in my collecting clothes 

 and we were afield. 



Many years ago the entire valley 

 was covered with a fine growth of 

 large trees but they have all been cut 

 down and now there are numerous 

 small Tamaracks, and the country has 

 the appearance of a desert with its 

 sage brush and sandy soil. 



Leaving the tents which were placed 

 among the Tamaracks Ray asked me 

 if I desired to see a nest of the Ruby- 

 crowned Kinglet which he had found 

 several days ago and as this was one 

 of the things that I was particularly 

 anxious to get I hastily assured him 

 that he could take me to the nest, 

 along the way I found a nest in the top 

 of a small tamarack and on climbing 

 same I found it to be a nest of the 

 Audubons Warbler from which the 

 young had flown. A little farther on 

 we saw several nests of the Chipping 

 Sparrow containing highly incubated 

 eggs. Arriving at the Kinglets nest T 



