Mar., 1919 NOTES FROM THE FEATHER RIVER COUNTRY 75 
miles from Sierraville. A pair had been noticed flying about on the edge of the coni- 
ferous forest for a couple of days, and on June 15 the male was taken for the record. 
While this swift must nest in many places in the state, actual breeding records seem to 
be rare, especially away from the coast. Grinnell, in his “Distributional List of the Birds 
of California” (Pacific Coast Avifauna, no. 11, 1915, p. 85) gives no breeding localities 
outside of the humid coast belt, and I have not come across any other published record 
for California since that work appeared. 
Sayornis sayus. Say Phoebe. Not having met with this species elsewhere in the 
localities visited on this trip, I was rather surprised, on my arrival at Loyalton, Sierra 
County, to see outside my window a pair of Say Phoebes giving a brocd of youngsters a 
good flying start on the voyage of life, the date being June 6. At the same time, this 
pair appeared to be putting the finishing touches on a new nest upon a beam in a low 
shed in the adjoining yard, though this may have been only the repairing of the old nest 
from which the brood was practicing its first flights. On June 9, a. small boy mistook 
the adult female for an English Sparrow (Passer domesticus), upon which he was wagzg- 
ing warfare, and killed it with an air gun. This bird was in badly worn plumage and 
contained an egg almost ready to be laid. Apparently there is no published breeding 
record of the species for this part of the Sierras. 
Pica pica hudsonia. Black-billed Magpie. A pair of magpies, apparently of this 
species, was seen at the edge of the town of Loyalton on June 8, flying among some old 
mill buildings. As this magpie is a common resident of the territory only a few miles 
east, in country not separated from Sierra Valley by anything more than the open, gent- 
ly graded Beckwith Pass, and with but little difference in altitude, there seems good 
reason for believing that a few individuals occasionally wander westward into this val- 
ley, and that more would be found if a greater territory were covered than was explored 
on this particular trip. 
Passerculus sandwichensis nevadensis. Nevada Savannah Sparrow. Along the 
railroad from Hawley to Loyalton, through the meadowy part of the Sierra Valley, small 
sparrows were often seen from the car window, and in the outskirts of the town some 
specimens were taken that proved to be of the above form. These birds were evidently 
nesting in suitable spots all through the valley, as far as Sierraville anyway, but no 
nests were actually found. Considerable water flows into the comparatively level valley 
from the surrounding mountains, forming swampy meadows that are ideal places for 
their nesting grounds. 
Melospiza melodia fisherella. Modoc Song Sparrow. This proved to be the form 
common to all the localities visited on this trip, from 4000 to 6000 feet elevation, but it 
was really numerous in only one spot, a swampy meadow about a mile up the stream 
that flows through Mohawk, where there was a thick growth of short, brushy willows, 
and plenty of long grass. In all other places where noted it was more scattered, and 
was seldom seen far from streams. Three nests were found. The first, on May 21, con- 
taining a set of three eggs about half incubated, was in a swampy spot near a low bank 
of the Feather River, and was situated in long dry grass among some dead limbs in the 
edge of a small willow clump, and placed about ten inches above the ground. The other 
two were in thinly scattered willow trees in the midst of the little settlement of Mo- 
hawk. One of these was found on June 4, with nestlings almost ready to leave their 
domicile, and was in a thin bunch of willow trees, under which, and only a few feet from 
the nest, the small boys of the village noisily played the greater part of the day. The 
nest was about three and one-half feet above the ground and built on some very open 
branches. 
I had noticed the parents of this nest for some time, but never dreamed that the 
birds would build in such an open spot right in the boys’ playground, where the embryo 
farmers had dammed up a little irrigating ditch that ran past the willow tree. My atten- 
tion was called to the nest by the boys themselves, who had not found it until the old 
birds were feeding their young, when the movements of the parents attracted their no- 
lice. The third nest was also shown me by the same boys when I returned to Mohawk 
to gather up material left there to be picked up on my homeward journey. This was sit- 
uated in a quieter place farther up this same little ditch, and was about seven feet above 
the ground in some leafless branches of a small willow. On this date, June 17, it con- 
tained four apparently fresh eggs, but was not disturbed, as I was all packed up and 
waiting for the stage when the boys showed it to me. 
