The Townsend Solitaire 
“Song * * a dulcet strain of varied notes. It reminds one strongly 
of the Sage Thrasher, but is somewhat less impetuous.” 
Yosemite Valley, June n, 1914: “For the first time in years I hear 
again the strange, wild, broken thrush-like medley of the Solitaire. There 
are delicate flute-like trills and passages which contrast oddly with more 
metallic and prosaic notes. The surroundings are scattered trees of 
douglas fir and sugar pine with considerable intermixture of dwarf oak 
( Q. morhus), and heavy chaparral of manzanita, snowbush, and huckle¬ 
berry. 
“Another Solitaire held forth on the wall over which Nevada leaps. 
It was a romantic scene where a White-throated Swift dashed into a 
crevice near a Golden Eagle’s nest, while a Solitaire sang a wild medley 
to the accompaniment of Nevada’s roar!” 
Mt. Shasta, alt. 7200, July 8, 1916: “Heard singing. The bird is 
evidently shifting about a little from place to place in a beautiful fir grove. 
His song is weird, eccentric, and unstudied, as refreshing as it is incon¬ 
stant,—scarcely excellent enough to have had Newberry’s encomium, yet 
very gratifying to the ear—and rare.” 
Mt. Shasta, alt. 6900, July 10, 1916: “A Townsend Solitaire sings 
from a dead limb near the summit of a tall fir tree, not less than 150 feet 
Taken on Mt. Shasta Photo by the Author 
A GROUND NEST AT BASE OF SHASTA FIR 
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