AMONG THE BIRDS OF THE YOSEMITE 210 



20th of August, as I was passing along 1 the mar- 

 gin of a garden spot on the head-waters of the 

 San Joaquin, a grouse rose from the ruins of an 

 old juniper that had been uprooted and brought 

 down by an avalanche from a cliff overhead. 

 She threw herself at my feet, limped and flut- 

 tered and gasped, showing, as I thought, that 

 she had a nest and was raising a second brood. 

 Looking for the eggs, I was surprised to see a 

 strong-winged flock nearly as large as the mo- 

 ther fly up around me. 



Instead of seeking a warmer climate when the 

 winter storms set in, these hardy birds stay all 

 the year in the high Sierra forests, and I have 

 never known them to suffer in any sort of wea- 

 ther. Able to live on the buds of pine, spruce, 

 and fir, they are forever independent in the 

 matter of food supply, which gives so many of 

 us trouble, dragging us here and there away 

 from our best work. How gladly I would live 

 on pine buds, however pitchy, for the sake of 

 this grand independence! With all his superior 

 resources, man makes more distracting difficulty 

 concerning food than any other of the family. 



The mountain quail, or plumed partridge ( Ore- 

 ortyx pieties plumiferus) is common in all the 

 upper portions of the Park, though nowhere in 

 numbers. He ranges considerably higher than 

 the grouse in summer, but is unable to endure 

 the heavy storms of winter. When his food is 



