Mar., 1918 SIX WEEKS IN THE HIGH SIERRAS IN NESTING TIME 73 



a previous year apart to use the material in the construction of a new one. The 

 latter, however, I failed to find and it was apparently located at a considerable 

 distance. 



I excavated a nest of the Modoc Woodpecker on May 30 with four partially 

 incubated eggs. The birds had cleverly hollowed out an aspen knot and, though 

 but fourteen feet up, the nest was difficult to find. Not far distant a nesting 

 cavity of the Red-shafted Flicker was noted with eight slightly incubated eggs , 

 this was in process of excavation on May 17. On approaching the cow-sheds 

 which had apparently been deserted previously by the colony of Cliff Swallows, 

 I was surprised to find they had all returned and that most of the nests now held 

 eggs. 



An American Merganser was seen on May 31 close to Bijou with six young 

 just hatched, and on June 2 the first Pacific Nighthawk (Chordeiles virginianus 

 hesperis) of the season was noted. Later in the day a nest of the Williamson Sap- 

 sucker and one of the Sierra Red-breasted Sapsucker, both with completed sets of 

 five eggs, were duly chronicled. The latter birds were quiet in their nesting pre- 

 cincts, compared to the noisy Williamson. 



On June 4, I came upon a Belted Kingfisher apparently engaged in nest- 

 burrowing in a sand bank along the lake shore. Revisiting the spot some days 

 Jater, this burrow proved to be but a decoy, for the occupied one, partly concealed 

 by overhanging pine roots close by, now held small young. 



Messrs. Henry W. Carriger and Chase Littlejohn arrived at 1 :30 p. m. on 

 June 4, and with characteristic energy Carriger, a few hours later, had us all 

 afield. The first find of the triumvirate was a nesting hole of the American 

 Sparrow Hawk (Falco sparverius sparverius) in a tall dead pine, but no one 

 cared to make the climb. The one nest found of importance was by Carriger — a 

 Pigmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea pygmaea) in a narrow slit-like cavity seven 

 and one-half feet up in an old pine stump, with eight fresh eggs. Littlejohn col- 

 lected the female parent which contained, unfortunately, an additional egg with 

 the shell not yet hardened, thus marring a set of very fine specimens. 



On June 5, the entire day was spent afield. We rose early, as Carriger had 

 a way of making life miserable for anyone abed once daylight streaked the east, 

 or even when said streaking was still a matter of question. The first finds were 

 by the writer, among which were a nest of the Mountain Chickadee with six fresh 

 eggs, and one of the Williamson Sapsucker with a like complement. Most note- 

 worthy, however, was a nest of the Pigmy Nuthatch which I located thirty feet 

 up almost at the very top of a dead limbless pine stump, which required consid- 

 erable work to reach, and then only with the aid of all hands and two long and 

 rather unwilling ladders, borrowed at a nearby lake resort, and nailed to- 

 gether. Both the dead tree and the ladder creaked and rocked far too much for 

 my liking as I went cautiously upward, and my investigation was hastily and 

 anxiously made. The sitting bird was flushed from the nest, which was built in 

 a narrow slit-like crevice, excavated by the birds, and lined with wool, cottony 

 substances, snake skin and feathers. Tt held seven eggs slightly incubated. Car- 

 riger located two nests of the Williamson Sapsucker, one with small young, and 

 the other with six slightly incubated effffs ; while Littlejohn noted two incomplete 

 sets of the Red-shafted Flicker, one with five eggs, and the other with but one. 

 He also collected a male Green-tailed Towhee (Orenspiza chlorura) which dissec- 

 tion showed was about to breed. Easily the most important record, however, was 

 made along the Little Truckee River, where Ave saw, flying at a height of 100 feet 



