192 THE CONDOR Vol. X 



Querquedula cyanoptera. Cinnamon Teal. Two pairs of these little ducks 

 were to be found at the extreme w^est end of the lake during my entire stay. 

 Neither nest was found, altho both were certainly there. This is by far the high- 

 est altitude at which I have noted these birds nesting; but both pairs were prob- 

 ably strays from the Columbia River. 



Cypseloides niger. Black Swift. These swifts were very common at the west 

 end of the lake, and might be seen in flocks of fifty or more at almost any time of 

 day. As the mountains were approached they rapidly became rare, until at an 

 altitude of a little over 2000 feet they were very seldom seen at all. No evidences 

 of nesting sites w^ere found, nor could I obtain any reliable reports that any had 

 ever been found. 



Aeronautes melanoleucus. White-throated Swift. I^ess common than the 

 foregoing, but seen going into crevices near the east end of the lake in the in- 

 accessible cliffs along the Columbia. One has no conception whatever of the 

 rapidity of bird flight until he has seen one of these winged meteors travelling at 

 full speed. 



Ste Hula calliope. Calliope Hummingbird. Found at both ends of the lake, 

 but near the west end in the vicinit}^ of 1500 feet altitude these birds were extremely 

 numerous. I found great difficulty in locating the nests, only one set of two fresh 

 eggs being found. This was taken on June 12, my attention being attracted to it 

 by the savage attack of the female upon a passing Western Robin. 



Nucifraga columbiana. Clarke Crow. These most interesting birds were rather 

 plentiful near the west end of the lake, w^here they seemed to prefer an altitude of 

 a little over 1500 feet. Here on June 13 I located the only nest of the trip, which 

 was disclosed to me by the parent birds carrying food to the young. It was about 

 150 feet up in a large bull pine, near the top where some disease of the foliage had 

 caused an almost solid cluster four feet in diameter. As regards visiting the nest 

 the old birds were extremely shy, never going to it if they knew I was in the 

 vicinity. This was apparently not at all to the liking of the young ones, whose 

 continuous cries of charr could be plainly heard from the ground. They sounded 

 very much like half-grown crows. My presence did not seem to cause the adults 

 any personal alarm whatever, and I spent considerable time watching them at only 

 a few yards distance. They seemed to find an equal abundance of food in the trees and 

 on the ground, bat I was surprised to find them such expert and assiduous fly- 

 catchers. Large beetles and a dull-colored miller were very abundant, and these 

 the nutcrackers caught in mid-air with a speed and accurac}^ that w^as remarkable 

 in such heavily built birds. It is probable that the above mentioned nesting record 

 is most unusual, both as to date and altitude, for doubtless they usually nest much 

 earlier in the season and higher up in the mountains. 



Hesperiphona vespertina montana. Western Evening Grosbeak. While not 

 precisely common, these handsome birds were to be seen every day in the vicinity 

 of 2000 feet altitude. No nests w^ere found, nor did the birds show any indica- 

 tions of nesting. 



Spizella socialis arizonae. Western Chipping Sparrow. This extremely com- 

 mon little bird deserves mention for the almost unlimited latitude of its distribu- 

 tion. It is to be found literally everywhere, rearing its young in the sun-baked 

 sage bushes, the cool orchard trees of some irrigated garden, and again is found 

 equally numerous on the fir-clad slopes of the mountains. Many a disappoint- 

 ment has met me at the end of a hard climb, only to find a sparrow^'s nest where I 

 had hoped for some rare warbler. And this in the wildest mountains where the 

 presence of a socialis seemed quite be3^ond belief. 



