TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE. 87 
Bluebirds. Besides a loud, liquid call-note, the male has a beautiful warbling song, 
which somewhat resembles that of the Purple Finch, but far excels it in power, sweet- 
ness, and modulation. 
The first nest of this bird was found by Prof. Robert Ridgway in July, 1867, in a 
deep ravine on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, at an altitude of about 5,000 
feet. ‘‘This nest was placed in the cavity of the rocks forming the perpendicular upper 
bank of a sluice, constructed for mining purposes, and through which ran the water of 
a considerable mountain stream. The nest, which was about a foot above the water, 
was nearly as bulky as that of the Brown Thrasher, and similarly constructed; it con- 
tained four young. When we approached it, the female was much excited, flying before 
us or running upon the ground in the manner of a Thrush, a species of which she was 
at first thought to be, from her entirely thrush-like manners and appearance.” 
The first nest with eggs was found in 1876 by an eastern tourist, Mr. Lamb of 
Holyoke, Mass., in Summit Co., Colorado, at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Another, found 
by Mr. Wm. G. Smith of Buffalo Creek, Jefferson Co., Colorado, June 18, 1883, in the 
end of a large hollow fallen log, was constructed of a great quantity of thrash, includ- 
ing some bits of stick as thick as one’s little finger. Upon this rested the nest proper, 
constructed chiefly of pine needles, grasses and disintigrated weed-stalks, the whole loose 
and slovenly, hardly to be handled without coming to pieces, without any well-defined 
brim or very regular circular disposition of the material. ‘‘The two eggs differ from 
each other in color as much as those of the Song Sparrow might, and not distantly 
resemble Song Sparrow's eggs. The ground is dull white; in one case wreathed about 
the butt, and elsewhere sparsely sprinkled with dull reddish-brown surface-markings 
and shell-spots duller still; in the other sample so heavily marked all over with a 
brighter and more chocolate brown that the ground-color scarcely appears.—Size about 
0.95 X0.70 in.”? (Coues.) 
Mr. W. E. Bryant of Oakland, Cal., adds the following to what is already known 
of the nest and eggs of the Clarino: ‘Of four nests of which I have notes, three were 
placed either on the ground or in a slight depression, giving the nest a saucer shape. 
In each case concealment had been attempted by the aid of weeds, a stone or a large 
piece of bark. One nest was built on the ground, within a semi-circular cavity of a 
standing tree. The nests were composed mostly of pine needles. One had a lining of 
soap-root fibre, and another was built of pine needles upon a slight foundation of small 
sticks. Three nests, found by Mr. Belding at Big Trees, Cal., June 8 and 9, 1879, and 
June 10, 1880, contained each four nearly fresh eggs.’’ They correspond closely to the 
description of the eggs, quoted above. Dr. Elliott Coues in his incomparable work “Birds 
of the Colorado Valley”’ concludes the life history of this interesting bird with the following 
beautiful passage: ‘‘The sociable disposition which Townsend’s Thrush manifests during 
the winter, contrasting with those traits it shows at other seasons so conspicuously that 
it has acquired the soubriquet of ‘Solitaire,’ is also attested by Mr. J. K. Lord, from ob- 
servations made at Colville during November, when the leaves had fallen, snow covered 
the ground, and the cold was intense. His attention was attracted by the sound of sing- 
ing, unusual at that inclement season; and he soon discovered a score of these brave little 
birds perched upon the sprays of some thorn-bushes, and was reminded, by their low, 
