March 9, 1893.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



205 



SIERRA BIRD NOTES. 



In looking over my ornithological notes, taken during 

 the past year, I found a few which may be of some gene- 

 ral interest, and present them for what they are worth. 



American G-oldfinch {Spinn^ trisfis). — In a residence of 

 15 years in tliis portion of the foothills of the Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains I never saw this bird until May, 1892. 

 On the 7th of that month, and for every succeeding day, 

 up to the 14tli, I observed it at a point above Auburn hav- 

 ing an elevation of about 1,500ft. It was seen every day 

 in small numbers at the same spot, an open hillside, fac- 

 ing to the west. 



It was seen in company with a flock of Arkansas gold- 

 finches (Spimis psaltria), and mountain -bluebirds {Sialia 

 arctica). On one occasion I counted eight individuals of 

 the species, the largest number seen at any one time. I 

 Ijelieve this is the first time this bird has ever been re- 

 ported from this locaUty. 



Mockingbird {Mimus polyglottos). — This bird, Hke the 

 last, has never before been reported from this locality. I 

 believe it has never been observed at a nearer point tlian 

 MarysviUe. 



On Nov. 14 I watched a pair for some time in a large 

 live oak tree. The male was singing all the time wh'le I 

 was watching, but was very wary. Its companion was 

 less shy and moved about in open sight aU the time. For 

 several days in succession I heai-d and saw the birds in the 

 same locality. It was in the hospital grounds, just in the 

 edge of town, and the inmates of that institution in- 

 formed me that the same species of bu-d had sung in that 

 tree all the previous summer. 



American Dipper. Water Ousel (Cinclus mexicarms).— 

 Every winter since I have lived in this locality I have ob- 

 seiwe'd a few individuals 

 of this species wintering 

 on Auburn Ravine below 

 the town. I have noted 

 their arrival and departure 

 closely for the past ten 

 years and find that they 

 arrive about the first of 

 November and leave about 

 the first part of February. 



During the ten years that 

 I have made not&s con- 

 cerning them they never 

 appeared earlier than Oct. 

 26, nor later than Nov. 5. 

 The departm-e seems to 

 depend more upon the state 

 of the season. If the sea- 

 son has been one of light 

 snowfuU in the mountains 

 they may leave by Jan. 15. 

 If heavy snoAvs have fallen 

 and the warm weather is 

 a little delayed I have seen 

 them as late as Feb. 20. 

 These extremes, however, 

 are rare and tlieir average 

 is about as first stated. . 



The dipper is one of the 

 most mteresting of all our 

 California birds and the 

 one that I take the greatest 

 pleasure in observing. It 

 has been many times writ- 

 ten about, but yet I am 

 going to venture a few ob- 

 servations, even at the risk 



of beating threshed straw. I have written about the bird 

 before in the columns of FOREST and Stream, noting 

 some of its doings in its summer home in the high 

 Sierra. But here it is a different bird entirely. Its clear 

 and joyous song is silenced; it is not so shy, its time 

 seems moi-e busily occupied in prociuing a living. 



The highway rims down Auburn Eavine, close by the 

 side of the stream, for some two miles. For this distance 

 the road is at no point further than 20yds. from the cen- 

 ter of the stream, and most of the way, built close be- 

 side it, are restraining rock walls. This gives an excellent 

 opportimity of watching the birds from a carriage, of 

 which they seem less afraid than of a pedestrian. On 

 numberless occasions I have stopped my carriage and 

 watched one of them sitting on a rock or gathering food, 

 when so close that I could have touched it with the tip of 

 my whip. On cool mor ni ngs they seem loath to move, 

 aiid sit quietly with their heads drawn down between 

 their shoulders and their recm-ved bills pointing upward 

 at an angle of 65°. When aroused they fly swiftly aAvay, 

 following the center of the stream, never "cutting cor- 

 ners," but keeping at a distance of about 2 to 4ft. above 

 the surface fof the; water, On taking flight they almost 

 invariably give utterance to a shriU. staccato cry of chit- 

 chit, cMt-chit-chU. ThLs is sometimes varied by the con- 

 tinuous utterance of the same sounds, thus: Ghit-cMt-cMt- 

 chit-chit-chU-chit! in the same staccato manner, remind- 

 ing one somewhat of the ratthng cry of the halcyon. On 

 alighting, which they nearly always do on a rock in mid- 

 stream, they turn quickly around, facing the source of 

 their disturbance, and perform a series of dips or courte- 

 sies. This gives them a clownish appearance, especially 

 as they usually tm-n their bodies half round from side to 

 side at every dip. Another thing that adds to their com- 

 ical appearance is the fact that they have white eyelids 

 and wink frequently and very slowly. About every sec- 

 ond dip they wink, when their eyes look like large white 

 beads stuck in their sooty brown heads. These things, 

 taken in conjunction with their fat, squab bodies, their 

 apparently up-tilted or snub-nosed beaks and short up- 

 turned tails, make them the feathered clowns of om- 

 Sierra streams. 



They roost on midstream rocks. I have seen them on 

 mconiight nights sitting on a rock -within 10ft. of the 

 highway; and had I not been looking narrowly would not 

 have seen them, so closelj^ do their tints blend Avith those 

 of the rock they are upon. Only their bright eyes, glinting 

 in the moonlight, or their bodies, silhouetted against the 

 dashing spray, betrayed theii- presence. I have stopped 

 and disturbed them when sitting thus in the night, upon 

 which they flew quickly and noiselessly away to a new 

 resting place, I have seep them sitting thus [Oft some of 



our coldest nights, with the thermometer 5 or 6° below 

 freezing point, and the spray dashing over them continu- 

 ously. Truly they love tlie vicinity of the rushing waters. 

 I never saw them in companionship with others of their 

 kind in the winter season. Each bird seems to have a 

 claim of his own "staked off," and lives solitary and alone 

 until pairing time arrives. 



If the American dipper is clownish on the land, it is the 

 embodiment of grace and action in the water. I have 

 watched it while it wa.s busily employed in earning its 

 daily bread, and I fear that other more important matters 

 were neglected in consequence. 



I have observed the bird plunge into the boiling, tor- 

 rential stream, after heavy rains, at a time when the 

 most powerful horse and rider would have been instantly 

 swept away in the uncontrollable current, and when the 

 water was thick with the red soil washed down from the 

 hillsides, and have seen it emerge some yards further up 

 stream, as easfly and lightly as the spark arises from the 

 evening camp-fire. The bird flies underneath the water 

 a.s easfly as in the air, propelling itself with wingbeats in 

 the sarne manner. I have watched it when almost di- 

 rectly beneath me, and when the water was clear, and I 

 could see every motion. 



When it enters the water a thin pellicle of air adheres to 

 the bird, giving it the appearance of frosted silver, and 

 giving it a beautiful appearance in clear water. When it 

 emerges it never has to shake its head or make any other 

 motion to rid itself of water, for none adheres to it. It just 

 rises hke a bubble of air, and is on the wing again, or sits 

 lightly, lilce a duck, on the surface of the stxeam. I never 

 saw it enter sluggish water. It seems to always seek its 

 food where the current is swift — the swifter the better, 

 apparently. 



It enters the water in different ways. It will some- 

 times walk dehberately in from the shore, clinging to the 

 bottom with its feet until totaUy submerged, and re-appear 

 in the same manner or on the wing as may happen. It 



REINDEER AT UNAL.-iSKA. 

 (Forest and Stream Amateur Photography Competition.) 

 Photo hy air. N. B. MiUer. 



wiU also plunge recklessly in while in full flight, and 

 emerge many yards away or close to the same spot, as its 

 fancy dictates. Sometimes whfle quietly swimming on 

 the sm-f ace it wiU dive like a duck, but much more grace- 

 fully. And again, when on a rock it will sidle down to 

 the water, and let one wing down into the current, and 

 then instantty disappear, generally coming up at the same 

 point. This I have seen it do fifteen times in the same 

 spot, by actual count. It will sometimes seek its food 

 along the bank of the stream, turning over small stones 

 in its search. I have observed this only twice, and then 

 it was done by the same individual. At least I thought it 

 was the same, as it was near the same spot, and within a 

 period of two or three days that the bird was seen doing 

 this. Previous to this observation, I had always supposed 

 the dipper sought its food invariably in the water. But 

 in aU ways and at all times, the bird lover will be de- 

 lighted in watching the actions of this sprightly, dapper 

 little chap. And for the benefit of those, who, from cir- 

 cumstances, may never have the pleasure of thus obseiw- 

 ing him, these lines are penned. Arepar. 

 AtTBTOiT, Cal., Feb. 17. 



Imee deep with rnud, the only clear place being the nar- 

 row trail on the side on which we were walking. Now^I 

 did not want to unnecessarily distiu-b the deer, neither did 

 I care to wade through the mud to tlie opposite side, so I 

 kept on, wondering what would be the result. When 

 within 50yds. of me the hindmost deer jumped the ditch 

 by the roadside and moved off a few yards into the brush 

 and stoodj but the other continued its course toward me, 

 its great liquid eyes and gentle expression seeming to say, 

 "I don't believe you'U hurt me." I kept as near to the 

 mud avS I could, giving the deer nearly all the trad, but 

 when we passed each other my coat almost brushed the 

 animal's side. I did not stop, but looking back over my 

 shoulder I saw the deer turn, and, joined by its compan- 

 ion, f oUow me till a bend in the road lost them to view. 

 I have had not a little confidence placed in me by people 

 with whom I associated, but I look back to the actions of 

 that wfld animal as one of the greatest comphments ever 

 paid me. 



A mountain goat that I once kept in confinement was 

 about as cunning as the average street Arab, and had he 

 lived to maturity and kept on acquiring knowledge, the 

 chances are I would have had to move out and give him 

 the ranch. 



He usually followed me Ton short excursions into the 

 woods, and generally kept right at my heels; but on one 

 occasion he lagged behind, and although I called him sev- 

 eral times, he paid no heed. I finally walked back to see 

 what he was interested in, and found him busy feeding 

 on some moss that grew at the roots of a fir tree; so I left 

 him and continued my tramp. But after I had got away a 

 short distance the thought occurred to me to hide, and 

 see how he would act; so I slipped into a hollow stump 

 close by the trail and waited the result. Presently I heard 

 him coming bounding along the trail, and after he had 

 passed I stuck out my head to watch him. When he got 

 about twenty feet beyond me, he stopped and commenced 

 looking aroimd, and the 

 comical expression of his 

 face as he scanned every 

 object that bore any re- 

 semblance to a human 

 being caused me to burst 

 out laughing, when he 

 turned and saw me. Then 

 he commenced to sulk and 

 would not go any further, 

 so I had to return home. 



The next day he followed 

 me, as usual, but in the 

 midst of some thick brush 

 and down timber I got 

 interested in a bird that I 

 was following up, and for- 

 got the goat, and when I 

 came to look for him he 

 ! was gone. Walking back 



I to where I last saw him, 



' I called, but no "Billy" 



I came in sight. Then I 



commenced a diligent 

 search, and presently I 

 i caught sight of something 



1 white beneath a brush 



' heap. Stooping down and 



, . . • .1 looking in, I saw the little 



brute curled up in a heap, 

 and not a move could I 

 get out of him. Reaching 

 in, I caught him by the leg 

 and pulled him out, and 

 gave him a good cuffing 

 on both sides of his head. 

 But he did not mind it a 

 bit, and seemed to enjoy the joke immensely, capering 

 about in his usual manner all the way home, as if he 

 would say, "You hid from me yesterday and I hid from 

 you to-day, and honors are even." John Fannin. 



Victoria, British Columbia. 



SOMETHING ABOUT WILD ANIMALS. 



A FEW years ago, when the gold excitement was at its 

 height in the Granite Creek section, and miners were 

 scouring the country in every direction in search of new 

 deposits, it happened that a group of tents sprmig up in 

 one night on the banks of the Tulameen Eiver. 



On the f oflowing morning a band of twelve deer, headed 

 by a magnificent buck, appeared on the summit of the 

 slope above the river and stood looking do^vn with aston- 

 ishment on the white tents of the miners. The place was 

 evidently an old ford where the deer passed from one 

 feeding ground to another. For a few moments they stood 

 undecided how to act. Then the does turned and fled, 

 but the buck threw up his head and ^vith firm step strode 

 do^vn the slope, through the very center of the group of 

 tents, into the river, and was half way across before the 

 astonished minei-s took in the situation. Then commenced 

 a shower of lead from rifles, shotguns and revolvers; and 

 the miner who told me the story said he stood on the bank 

 and just prayed for the safety of that buck. And his wish 

 was gTanted, for the noble beast reached the opposite 

 shore, boimded up the bank and out of reach of the leaden 

 shower, untouched. 



Once whfle traveling along a road which led for sev- 

 eral mfles through a thick woods, a couple of deer came 

 out of the timber about 100yds. ahead, stood for a moment 

 and then commep.ced Tyg.Iking toward me, The road was 



The Black-Billed Cuckoo. 



Chepachet, R. I., Feb. 25. — Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Your correspondent. Von Ifliand, who wrote in issue of 

 Feb. 23, may be interested in the following quotation, 

 from Stearns' and Coues' "New England Bird Life," oil 

 the black-billed cuckoo. The quotation will apply equally 

 well to the yellow-billed cuckoo, a rarer visitor to New 

 England and Canada than the black-bflled; ' 'Nor is there 

 any reason why the cuckoo should hide its head; it is an 

 orderly member of a disreputable famfly, rarely practic- 

 ing the vice which disgraces so many of its relatives, only 

 lapsing occasionaUy into what the evolutionists call 'ata- 

 vism,' when it drops an egg in some other bird's nest by 

 sheer force of hereditary habit. The cuckoo might rea- 

 sonably apologize for such misdemeanor by urging a 

 .weight of family cares which few birds have to bear; be- 

 ing imable through some defect of its egging apparatus, 

 to lay in rapid succession, and so incubate and raise a 

 brood at one effort. The eggs follow at such long in- 

 tervals, that some hatch before the rest are dropped; and 

 what with gaping throats to be satisfied, eggs to be 

 covered and more to come, the birds have a hard time of 

 it. The wonder is not that they are sometimes remiss or 

 amiss in their duties, but that they do not seek a wateiy 

 grave in the nearest kingfisher's premises." 



W. A. Sprague. 



A Hawk Invades a Liocomotive Cab. 



LakepoRT, N. H., Feb. 26. — ^A little incident happened 

 during the big storm we have just had that perhaps you 

 may think worth publishing. As Ave were standing near 

 Meredith station trying hard to keep the road open for 

 business with the snow blowing as hard as I ever saw it, 

 a small hawk with an EngHsh spaiTow in its claws flew 

 into the cab window, striking me and falling to the foot 

 board. The sparrow was still alive. I started to catch it, 

 but it flew away about four rods to a snow drift, where it 

 commenced striking the sparrow on the h^ad with its bill. 

 The hawk was about the size of a bluejay, of the same 

 color, with black spots. Was it a shrike or butcher bird? 

 —Geo. B. Thyng, [It was very likely a sparrow hawk, 

 which has a bluish back, Stiflit may have been a shrike, 

 -which, however, is distinctly gray— not blue.] 



