AMONG THE BIRDS OF THE YOSEMITE 231 



the traveler as long as they think they are ob- 

 served ; but when one goes on without seeming 

 to notice them, or sits down and keeps still, their 

 curiosity speedily gets the better of their cau- 

 tion, and they come flying from tree to tree, 

 nearer and nearer, and watch every motion. Few, 

 I am afraid, will ever learn to like this bird, he is 

 so suspicious and self-reliant, and his voice is so 

 harsh that to most ears the scream of the eagle 

 will seem melodious compared with it. Yet the 

 mountaineer who has battled and suffered and 

 struggled must admire his strength and endur- 

 ance, — the way he faces the mountain weather, 

 cleaves the icy blasts, cares for his young, and 

 digs a living from the stern wilderness. 



Higher yet than Nucifraga dwells the little 

 dun-headed sparrow (Leucosticte tephrocotis). 

 From early spring to late autumn he is to be 

 found only on the snowy, icy peaks at the head 

 of the glacier cirques and canons. His feeding 

 grounds in spring are the snow sheets between 

 the peaks, and in midsummer and autumn the 

 glaciers. Many bold insects go mountaineering 

 almost as soon as they are born, ascending the 

 highest summits on the mild breezes that blow 

 in from the sea every day during steady weather ; 

 but comparatively few of these adventurers find 

 their way down or see a flower bed again. Get- 

 ting tired and chilly, they alight on the snow 

 fields and glaciers, attracted perhaps by the 



