Jan., 1901 I 
THE CONDOR 
3 
thirty feet, and then darted into a small 
patch of brush near by. The nest was 
placed in a natural hollow in the stump 
and held six ver}^ handsome eggs. It 
was beautifully made, being composed 
of cedar bark with a lining of many 
different colored feathers. I was some 
time in taking this nest, for I removed 
the entire section of the stump in which 
it was placed, and the actions of the 
owners contrasted strongly with those 
of the Winter Wrens. The latter, as 
usual, never gave any sign that they 
were alive, but both male and female 
Vigor’s Wrens protested for all their 
name implied. Their note was a hansh 
deep “chuck,” far louder than I should 
ever credited to so small a bird. 
But the male decided it was not worth 
so much trouble, and soon flew to the 
top of a bush where he sang until I 
left. Again I was surprised at the vol- 
ume of sound, the note resembling that 
of Anorthura h. pacifica in a general 
way, but being many times louder and 
greatl}" lacking in delicacy of fiber. I 
listened for a full quarter hour, as he 
made very short intervals betv^een 
songs, and then turned homeward, hav- 
ing completed one of my favorite 
trips among the birds. 
% W 
Chipmunks. 
The observations of Mr. Williams at 
Independence Lake as recorded in the 
Sept.-October Condor were a surprise 
to me, as I had never suspected the 
chipmunks of harming birds, nor did I 
think they were carnivorous, though I 
had been told that the larger one. Say’s 
Chipmunk, would sometimes kill and 
eat the Large-eared Chipmunk, but 
having .seen many cages of pets which 
contained both species dwelling together 
in peace, I doubted the carnivorous 
propensity of 71 sayi. These are the 
species which are found at Independ- 
ence Lake. 
Scarcity of food may have been the 
cause of their exceptional (?) behavior 
at Independence Lake which, like other 
damp localities in the Sierras, at 7000 
feet altitude, or approximately that, is 
subject to frequent summer frosts. The 
past summer was an unfruitful one in 
these mountains from about 6,500 feet 
upward. The sunflower, gooseberries, 
seeds of the lupines, acorn of the dwarf 
oak, in fact all seeds and berries, with 
slight exception, were destroyed by 
frost before they matured. 
Birds are unaccountably scarce in the 
timber belt of the Sierras and also in 
most of the agricultural districts of Cali- 
fornia. My belief has been that birds 
which nest on the ground oftener suc- 
ceed in rearing their young than those 
which build in bushes and trees. I 
have seen at least a hundred nests of 
the junco and can only remember one 
that was disturbed by bird or animal, 
the exception being a nest that contained 
four young which were killed by a 
gopher snake. The majority of these 
nests were between 4,000 and 5,000 feet 
altitude and were built in the forest 
where the smaller chipmunk is abund- 
ant, but below the range of Say’s Chip- 
munk. 
I think the tree squirrels (S. fossor 
and A. hudsonius f?'e) 7 ionti)A\\e. former the 
large Grey Squirrel and the latter the 
Red Squirrel, destroy a great niaii}^ 
nests and eggs in .some localities. I 
hope the causes of bird scarcity in Cali- 
fornia will be ascertained and removed 
if possible. I think some are climatic. 
L. Bedding. 
Stockto 7 i, Cal. 
WWW 
Mr. William W. Price will conduct a party of 
boys and young men on a natural history and 
exploring trip to the Lower Colorado River 
from Yuma, Ariz., southward through Mexico 
to the Gulf of California. The party left Yuma 
Dec. 21 and are expected to return about Jan. 
5. It is safe to assume that, with Mr. Price as 
their leader and guide, they will find the out- 
ing both profitable and immensely interesting. 
We learn that W. Otto Emerson of Hay ward, 
Cal., has been appointed a member of the A. 
O. U. Committee on Bird Protection for Califor- 
nia. Mr. Emerson’s active work in this line is 
well known, and the appointment is happily 
deserved. 
