170 
THE CONDOR 
1 Voi. irr 
about the poplar trees at the Five-mile House. This altitude perhaps marks the 
upper limit of its range as vve did not observe it beyond this point in summer. Air. 
Taylor collected an adult male at Meyer’s Station October 12, 190T. This speci- 
men appears paler and larger than birds from the interior valleys and coast dis- 
trict. 
Loxia curvirostra bendirei. vSierra Crossbill. On June 7, 1899 I shot a male 
crossbill at Fyfte; the bird was in high plumage but showed little evidence ot 
nesting. The bird was sluggish in its movements, sitting on a low limb of a cedar 
tree where it was mistaken for a purple finch. On the following day a number 
were observed feeding in the tops of the pines, hanging head downward and ut- 
tering a sharp note. Mr. Taylor collected a female crossbill near Meyer’s vStation 
on Sept, r, 1901. 
[The crossbill is rare in summer in the .Sierras. I have noted it on only two 
occasions, once Aug. 10, 1892 in hemlock timber near Pyramid Peak and again in 
igoo at the head of Glen Alpine gorge. ^ — \V. \V. P.j 
Leucosticte tephrocotis. Gray-crowned Leucosticte. This species was met 
with l)ut once, — on June 10, 1900 when we climbed Pyramid Peak. The summit 
of the peak is a conglomerate mass of bowlders and slabs of rock thrown together 
in chaotic order. About these rocks at the summit we noted two pair of leucostic- 
tes, one pair being secured. The contents of the stomach of the male bird were 
found to consist of the seeds of the white-bark pine, which grows in a dwarfed 
form up to perhaps within an eighth of a mite of the summit. The leucostictes ap- 
peared uneasy on account of our presence and after alighting for a moment on the 
rocks would sweep off in the strong wind, returning presently and freciuently 
uttering their twittering note. This species undoubtedly nests among the rocks, 
and probably considerable patience would enable one to follow the female to her 
nest if the locality were visited at the beginning of the breeding season, which I 
should judge would be about the first of June. 
[This species has been observed and collected by me each year, but I have 
never succeeded in finding its nesting place. Young just able to fly have been 
collected in late July. By the last of August leucostictes have begun to congre- 
gate in large flocks preparatory to a migration probably to the interior valleys of 
Nevada where they are often seen in large numbers in winter. Their chief food 
in late summer consists of the small seeds of a borage and a small Eriogonum. 
All the specimens examined contained more or less insect food, principally ants 
and small beetles. The birds delight in the broad snow-fields which cover the 
eastern slope of Pyramid Peak; here the}' may be seen searching for wind-blown 
insects and seeds. I have not seen the bird below 8000 feet — W. W. P.] 
Astragalinus tristis salicamans. Willow Goldfinch. Observed in suitable locali-% 
ties about Placerville by Mr. Chas. A. Swisler. 
Astragalinus psaltria. Arkansas Goldfinch. A common species in the moun- 
tain orchards at Fyffe and even higher up. I found a nest in a pear tree in June 
1898 containing young, the parent bird allowing me to come within two feet of 
her ne.st with a camera. The species is probably common in suitable localities 
from Fyffe downward. 
[In August, 1892, I shot a male Arkansas goldfinch flying over the very sum- 
mit of Mt. Tallac. It was undoubtedly a straggler, for I have never since noted 
the species above 5000 feet. — W. W. P.] 
Astragalinus lawrencei. Fawrence Goldfinch. [A pair were observed at Placer- 
ville, earl}' in June 1897, in a deserted orchard below the town. A pair were shot 
at Fol.som in May 1897, in the outskirts of the town where they were seen several 
