242 UniversUy of California Publications in Zoology U^o^- 24 



became dwarfed and scattered. The birds were in full song during 

 the first week in June. A female shot June 5 contained eggs just be- 

 ginning to form. 



As we went down stream the species was seen nowhere in the bottom 

 lands, but it was encountered once more on the mountains above Doch- 

 da-on Creek. There we found the birds at timber line, on July 11 

 ■and again on July 23. Dixon found them amid similar surroundings 

 on a mountain a few miles north of Doch-da-on Creek ("Kirk's Moun- 

 tain") on July 16, and saw two bobtailed young. At these several 

 .points they were at the extreme upper limit of timber, at about 3000 

 to 4000 feet altitude, and mostly in dense thickets of prostrate "moun- 

 tain balsam" (Abies lasiocarpa). From these shelters could be heard 

 a sharp, far-reaching chip, a note that was difficult to locate, but was 

 finally traced to the golden-crowned sparrow. The birds were un- 

 doubtedly nesting in the balsam thickets. Probably they had young 

 at the time, but careful search failed to reveal any except the two that 

 Dixon saw while stalking a mountain goat. On July 23 the birds were 

 noticeably fewer in numbers than they had been on our first visit to 

 their habitat on July 11, and it seemed probable that they had already 

 begun to leave. 



It seems likely that the timber-line habitat of coronata extends 

 westward nearly or quite to the Alaskan coast. "With field glasses we 

 were able to see, at vkrious points down the Stikine, ridges and moun- 

 tain tops that appeared to be much like the high altitudes we reached 

 from the upper river. Near the coast, however, the mountains are in 

 most places extremely hard to ascend, and the fauna of their summits 

 is as yet unknown. The goldeg-crowned sparrow is a species of high 

 Hudsonian and Alpine-Arctic. It is a bird of the coastal region rather 

 than of the interior, but, except at the northern end of its habitat, is 

 apparently restricted to high altitudes during the summer months. 



During the migrations this sparrow is abundant at sea level. At 

 Sergief Island the first one appeared on September 1. The next day 

 the species was present in considerable numbers. Seven specimens 

 collected (nos. 39932-39938), three at the Summit, June 4 and 5, one 

 on the mountain above Doch-da-on Creek, July 23, and three on Sergief 

 Island, September 1 to 5. 



Spizella monticola ochracea Brewster. Western Tree Sparrow 

 Seen at but one place. At the Summit, some twelve miles north 

 of Telegraph Creek and at about 2600 feet elevation, several pairs of 

 western tree sparrows were seen on May 29, June 4 and 5, evidently 



