Jan., 1918 11 



EARLY AUTUMN BIRDS IN YOSEMITE VALLEY 

 By JOSEPH MAILLIARD 



THIS YEAR (1917) it was the writer's pleasant fortune to pass six weeks 

 amid the peace and beauty of the wonderful Yosemite — peaceful because 

 past the season of turmoil of the falling waters — always beautiful and 

 wondrous. It is true, the present writer had but just returned from a long and 

 painful journey to the very portals of that unknown collecting ground from 

 which no ornithologist has ever brought back notes; his steps were slow and 

 feeble and his limits much restricted, both geographically and topographically. 

 But he was able to pass at least a part of each and every day in active search 

 for feathered friends, and in setting down the names of the ones that proved to 

 be "among those present'', while at no hour were both eye and ear totally ob- 

 livious. These six weeks of observation extended from August 18 to Septem- 

 ber 29. 



As the Yosemite Valley is such an interesting locality, and as but little 

 seems to have been written upon its bird life save in a more or less incidental or 

 casual way — and that principally of the spring or early summer time — an ac- 

 count of some of the birds steadily looked for and noted during a fairly long 

 period in the early fall should be of some value. It must be borne in mind, how- 

 ever, that the following notes apply only to the "floor" of the valley, which 

 extends from a couple of miles below (west of) Yosemite Village to the Happy 

 Isles and up Tenaya Canyon as far as Mirror Lake ; the latter is but a hundred 

 feet or so above the floor proper, not enough difference in elevation to cut any 

 figure, and connected with it by a comparatively gentle slope. 



A mere list of the birds would likely prove unattractive to a majority of 

 our readers. Yet a list has its uses as a means of recording the presence of cer- 

 tain birds in definite localities at certain times ; it is not only of assistance to 

 the student of bird migration but is of value, as well, to persons who may cover 

 the ground in the future, and of interest to those who have been over it in the 

 past. For these reasons a list will be found at the end of this article, giving 

 those birds noted that are not mentioned in the lists of Yosemite birds to which 

 the writer has access. These are as follows : 

 1893. Emerson, W. O. Random Bird-notes from Merced Big Trees and Yosemite Vallev. 



Zoe, iv, July, 1893, pp. 176-182. 

 1904. Widmann, O. Yosemite Valley Birds. Auk, xxi. January, 1904, pp. 66-73. 

 1911. Grinnell, J. Early Summer Birds in Yosemite Valley. Sierra Club Bulletin, vm, 

 June, 1911, pp. 118-124. 



There are two or three other short articles about Yosemite birds but hardly 

 to be called lists, and about every variety of bird touched upon is included in 

 the three papers named. 



So many people are familiar with the Yosemite Valley that it seems unne 

 cessary to describe it here at any length; but for the benefit of those who have 

 not had the opportunity to visit the spot it may suffice to say that it is a part 

 of the valley of the Merced River, up whose narrow canyon for the greater 

 part of its 79 miles a railroad parallels the stream. The grade is so compara- 

 tively gentle, in spite of the hilly country through which the river flows, that 

 the track bed is never more than a few yards, or at most a few rods, from the 

 water. At the terminus of the railway the canyon becomes more rugged and 

 the grade stiffens, while the stream is broken into short cataracts and low falls, 

 continuing this way, while a highway takes the place of the railroad, for about 



