The Townsend Solitaire 
Taken on Ml. Shasta Photo by the Author 
SOLITAIRE’S NEST AMONG THE SNOWBANKS 
AN X MARKS THE EXACT LOCATION OF AN OCCUPIED NEST 
have never been duplicated elsewhere, declared the Solitaire song to be 
full, rich, and melodious, like that of the Mimus “With the first dawn 
of day they began their songs, and at sunrise the valley was perfectly 
vocal with their songs. Never anywhere have I heard a more delightful 
chorus of bird music. Their song is not greatly varied, but all the notes 
are particularly clear and sweet, and the strain of pure gushing melody is 
as spontaneous and inspiring as that of the Song Sparrow.” 
Mr. T. M. Trippe, speaking for the Clear Creek Canyon in Colorado, 
says : 2 “Toward the middle and latter part of winter, as the snow begins 
to fall, the Flycatching Thrush delights to sing, choosing for its rostrum 
a pine tree in some elevated position, high up above the valleys; and 
not all the fields and groves, and hills of the Eastern States, can boast 
a more exquisite song; a song in which the notes of the Purple Finch, the 
Wood Thrush and the Winter Wren are blended into a silvery cascade of 
melody, that ripples and dances down the mountain sides as clear and 
sparkling as the mountain brook, filling the woods and valleys with ring- 
1 Rep. Pac. R. R. Survey, Vol. VI., 1857, p. 82. 
2 Coues, Birds of the Northwest (1874), pp. 95-96. 
