Mar., 1901 I 
THE CONDOR 
31 
ous situations. I have taken nests from 
orange trees, ten, twelve and sixteen 
feet up: from low thorny saplings four, 
five and eight feet up and many nests 
from bunches of plantains which gen- 
erally hang about twelve feet up. I 
have also seen several among the twigs 
in the tops of almost branchless trees 
from twenty to thirty feet up. The 
birds never build in coffee bushes, and 
in the cafetal never below' the tops of 
the coffee trees (a height of about ten 
feet). Nests that are found low down 
are built in open places. 
Giraud’s Flycatcher lays usually three 
or sometimes four eggs. These possess 
a latitude of variation common to fly- 
catchers’ eggs, but may be described as 
generally resembling the eggs of the 
kingbird, though perhaps not averag- 
ing as heavy in markings. I took my 
first set of fresh eggs on April 14 and 
the last on May 4. A set of four fresh 
eggs was taken on May 10, but it was 
from a nest from which I had taken a 
set of four on April 21. 
This flycatcher is a friendly little 
fellow, the clothesline in the back yard 
being one of his favorite perches, and 
the trees near the house seemingly his 
favorite nesting site, as there were six 
nests within a radius of 100 yards. It 
is interesting to watch the birds when 
they have young, and to see them shoot 
up into the nest from below' and pre- 
sently dive out again. 
■ w w ® 
IVlay in the High Sierras. 
D uring the summer-like weather 
I arrived at the summit of the Cen- 
tral Pacific Railroad, altitude 
7,000 feet, the evening of May 10, 1898. 
There was no snow at the station nor in 
the large meadow which extends three 
miles we.stward, but there were large 
patches of it on the surrounding peaks 
and ridges. 
The season was unusually early, the 
willows were partly in leaf and catkin, 
buttercups, w'hite and blue violets were 
in flow'er, w'hile pasturage was good in 
the meadow. Frogs(IIvias) were peep- 
ing, grouse and the Plumed Quail {Ore- 
ortyx p. plmniferus) were uttering their 
nuptial notes, butterflies and other in- 
sects were numerous, the marmot, chip- 
munks and other small animals w'ere 
active but had probably been out of 
w'inter quarters only two or three days; 
as snow was ten inches deep on the 
second of the month, and did not dis- 
appear from the station until the 8th, so 
Mr. Ott, the agent told me. 
The Plumed Partridge {Oreortyx p. 
plumiferiis) Blue-fronted Jay {Cya 7 io- 
citta s. frontalis), Cassin’s Purple Finch 
{Carpodaciis cassini,) White-crowned 
Sparrow, (Z. leucophrys), Junco and 
Arctic Bluebird, {Sialia arctica) were 
common. Additional summer residents 
in moderate force were noted during 
the nth and 12th, namely: Spotted 
Sandpiper {Actitis macularia), Killdeer, 
(A. vocifera), Red-shafted Flicker (Cc/: 
aptes c. collaris), Traill’s Flycatcher, 
(Empidojiax traili). Ruby-crowned 
Wren (Regnlus calaidiila) and Western 
Robin (Aferula 711. prophiqua). On the 
12th I found a nest of the Mountain 
Quail or Partridge and one of a Junco, 
each containing a single egg. 
The 13th and r4th were warm but 
there was a great change in the even- 
ing of the latter, when a chilling rain 
was followed by sleet and snow which 
continued several days until snow was 
nearly three feet deep, so I was in- 
formed. I went over the meadow 
again in the afternoon of the 15th; the 
snow was melting about as fast as it 
fell, and I found a small flock of Horned 
Larks which had come to spend the 
summer. With them was a Western 
Lark Sparrow {Cho/idestes g. strigatiis), 
a storm-bound migrant, probably an in- 
tended summer resident of Truckee 
Meadows. A Barn Swallow {Hirn/ido 
erythrogaster) was circling over the 
meadow in a snow-squall, three cock 
quails were whistling at the same time 
and a Western Meadow Lark {Shtrnella 
771 . 7 ieglectai) occasionally sang. 
A Lewis’s Woodpecker {Mela 7 ierprs 
