Sept., 190S A FEW SUMMER BIRDS OF LAKE CHELAN, WASHINGTON 19.3 



Vireo olivaceus. Red-eyed Vireo. Not at all uncommon at both ends of the 

 lake. This is the most abundant vireo of the region, outnumbering the Cassin 

 C \^irco s. cassuii) in the lower foothills at the west, and the Western Warbling ( T". g-. 

 szvaiJisouii) at the eastern end of the lake. Their song sounded to me to be 

 rather more spirited than that of the Red-eyes of my eastern coverts, but possibly 

 a long association with cassini may have warped my judgment. 



Dendroica townsendi. Townsend Warbler. This handsome warbler was 

 found only at the west end of the lake where it was by no means common and 

 seemed to be confined mostl^^ to the tallest trees. The only males seen or heard 

 Avere all high up in the tops of the largest conifers, much as is the habit of the 

 Hermit Warbler on the Pacific slope. 



In the only two nests seen, both of June 20, I was so unfortunate as to find 

 in each four newly hatched young. They were both placed about twelve feet up 

 in small firs, one some five feet out on a limb, the other close against the main 

 trunk. Both were saddled upon the limb, and not placed in a fork nor in a crotch. 



The construction of both nests was identical, and entirely different from an}^ of 

 the descriptions that I have read. They were firmly built, rather bulky, and de- 

 cidedly shallow for the nest of a warbler. The material used appeared to be mostly 

 cedar bark, with a few slender fir twigs interwoven. Externally they were 

 patched with a silvery flax-like plant fiber, while the lining seemed to be entirely 

 of the stems of moss flowers. To an eastern collector it resembled an unusually 

 bulky and considerably flattened nest of the Black-throated Green Warbler, lacking 

 any signs of feathers, however, in its construction. 



Both females remained on the nests until I was within a very short distance of 

 them, then dropped straight to the ground and disappeared. They were extremely 

 shy at first, but after an hour or two became sufficiently accustomed to my presence 

 to return to the nests a few moments after being flushed. I did not hear any 

 alarm notes, nor did the males appear at any time. 



Setophaga ruticilla. American Redstart. Altho seen at both ends of the lake 

 the Redstarts were not at all common, being very much less numerous than they 

 are in the vicinity of Spokane, Washington. They haunted the alder thickets in 

 the immediate vicinity 'of water, and were seen as high as 2000 feet altitude. 



Galeoscoptes carolinensis. Catbird. The Catbirds could not be termed com- 

 mon, but wherever a good-sized tract of open, brushy land was to be found one 

 was fairly certain to hear the delightful notes of this bird. Well up into the moun- 

 tains the occasional clearings were sometimes tenanted by a pair of these birds, and 

 a short search usually revealed the nest and eggs, the latter being invariably five 

 in number. 



Hylocichla ustulata swainsonii. Olive-backed Thrush. These birds divided 

 honors with the Western Chipping Sparrows as to which should be the more nu- 

 merous in the wooded country. They seem the latest to nest of all the l^rds in the 

 altitudes below 4000 feet; for at the time of my departure on June 23 many nests 

 were incomplete, while none of the nests found contained young. The song seemed 

 to me considerably clearer than that of our Russet-backs on the Pacific slope; other- 

 wise there was not much difference in their notes or habits. 



Tacoina, Washiiigtun. 



