Nov., 1908 



FROM BIG CREEK TO BIG BASIN 



221 



trilled among the orchard trees or House Finches iCar-podaais mexicanns frontalis) 

 made merry along the ridge of the hotel roof, I could faintly hear songs from the 

 realm of the Western Winter Wren and Monterey Hermit Thrush in the dark, 

 wooded canyon below. 



While returning Ewald rather surprised us by naming forty-five different trees 

 and plants in the canyons and by the erudite way in which he discoursed on the 

 properties of spigmint, yerba santos and other herbs. 



At noon on June 12, after the meal prepared by Oscar which made up in 

 quantity what it lacked in courses, he escorted us some distance up the road where 

 he took leave after giving some farewell advice on roads and trails. A rocky ridge 

 of shale, sparsely covered with brush, rises above the northern end of the dam. 

 On these rocky ridges birdlife is almost nil and no bird songs are heard except the 

 occasional twittering-cry of some lonely, forlorn Wren-tit. The road, dusty and 

 dazzling white, reflected the light and heat of a torrid sun and caused us to gaze 

 longingly to the north where 

 the timber lands again ap- 

 peared. After several miles 

 we reached a range of moun- 

 tains covered with oak and 

 other timber but with no red- 

 woods or spruce altho we were 

 a thousand feet higher in ele- 

 vation than the Big Creek 

 Summit; but as Joseph Grin- 

 nell has already noted, this 

 condition is not unusual along 

 the coast, where the Upper 

 Sonoran Zone is frequently 

 found above the Transition. 

 Orchards and many farms lie 

 along the summit plateau of 

 the Ben L,omond Mountains 

 and at times the bird-life 

 formed a rather curious com- 

 bination of both zones. As a 



further illustration compare typical species found here at an altitude ranging from 

 2000 to 2500 feet with those noted at Big Creek Summit among the redwoods, ele- 

 vation 1000 to 1500 feet. 



BIG CREEK BIRDS: HUMID TRANSITION ZONE 

 Coast Jay ( Cyanocitta steUcri carhonacea) 

 Santa Cruz Chickadee {Peuthestes rtifescens barlowi) 

 Golden Pileotated Warbler ( Wilsonia pus ilia ckryseola) 

 Western Winter Wren {A\innus hiemalis pacifiais) 

 Brewer Blackbird {Euphagiis cyanoccphaliis) 

 Red-shafted Flicker {Colaptcs cafcr collar is) 

 Olive-sided Flycatcher ( Coiitopus borcalis) 

 Western Wood Pewee ( Contopiis richardsoni ricJiardsoui) 

 Vaux Swift ( Chcetiira vaiixi) 



California Quail (Lo-phorfyx californicus californicus) 

 Point Pinos Junco {/unco hycmalis pinosus) 

 Russet-backed Thrush {Hylocichla iistulata ustiilata) 

 Monterey Hermit Thrush {Hylocichla guttata slevini) 



NESTING SITE OF WESTERN WINTER WREN IN REDWOOD I,OG 



