14 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY 



Tommy Tucker they sang for their supper- What a contrast to the 

 barbaric group of young Robins. The young seemed remarkably well 

 fledged and able to fly well for their age. They were colored very 

 much like the mother, with olive and pale yellow. 



Although this bird breeds in high wooded mountains chiefly in the 

 transition belt which extends along either side of the boreal of the cen- 

 tral peaks, all along the Sierras and most of the Coast Range* it is- 

 often seen throughout the state at the migration season, on its way to 

 and from its winter home in Guatemals. On May 14th I saw the males 

 in full plumage in the forests of Mendocino County, apparently pre- 

 ceding the females to their breeding haunts. So they must be among 

 the late arrivals. In the Sierras, nests had young in them the last week 

 in July. I have also found a nest with young on July 10th, at a greater 

 altitude, near Lake Independence. Anna head. 



TWO ARCHED NESTS AND THEIR OCCUPANTS. 



OMETIMES even the most common of our birds 

 prove the most diiScult subjects for the nature 

 photographer. The two that figure with this arti- 

 cle seemed possessed with the intention to cause 

 as much trouble and inconvenience as they possi- 

 bly could. 



Probably nearly all of our readers have heard 

 the elusive little song of the Yellow-winged Spar- 

 row; that is those who live within its range. Per- 

 haps too, many may have heard without noticing 

 it, for it is a song that would attract the attention 

 only of sharp ears; a squeaky twitter of the insect 

 from which it gets its name of Grasshopper Spar- 

 row. Hardly more noticable than the song is the bird that utters it; a 

 small dry-grass colored bird whose beauty of markings is only revealed 

 by a close inspection. 



As their colors are designed to protect them from observation, so are 

 their habits so calculated as to mislead anyone who would search for 

 their nest. The continued presence of a pair of "grasshoppers" in a 

 large field that I often passed, finally tempted me to hunt for the nest. 

 Fortunately the search was commenced early in the day, for it proved 

 to be an all day's task before success awarded our efforts. 



A single larger' one, lifting its head above the earth, adorned the 

 center of the field. This was a decided convenience for the birds and 



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