172 
THK CONDOR 
Vol. in 
ing about I speculated concerning the possible rarity of the nest and after a ludi- 
crously hard climb was rewarded with a set of three eggs of this sparrow. There- 
after I sought easier nests, preferably those four or five feet up in cedar and pine 
saplings. Nesting dates for Fyffe are as follows: June 10, 1897, nest and four 
young in a low bush one foot from ground; June 10, 1898, four incubated eggs, 
nest in a small cedar three feet up, the eggs marked with brown; June 15, four 
fresh eggs, nest seven feet up in pine sapling beside road; June 6, 1901, nest with 
full hedged young in cedar sapling four feet up; June 7, nest and four fresh eggs 
three feet up in manzanita bush; June 7, nest and four fresh eggs ten feet up on 
drooping limb of black oak. 
Spizella breweri. Brewer Sparrow. Several shot in the sage-brush near 
Meyer’s Station by Wilfred H. Osgood in June, 1896. This region seems well 
adapted to the species. 
Junco hyemalis thurberi. Tluirber Junco. A common summer resident 
from 3,000 feet altitude to the summit. At Fyffe the species is not common, but 
increases in numbers as we ascend. There is the usual variation in its nestine 
dates, young and fresh eggs being often found at the same time in one locality. 
On June 17, i8g6 I found a nest at Fyffe, containing half-grown young, the ne.st 
being concealed in the “mountain misery.” Mr. Taylor found a nest in May, 
1896 built in a depression in the side of an irrigating ditch, the nest and its sur- 
roundings being composed entirely of pine needles. On June 12, 1897 Carri- 
ger collected a nest and four fresh eggs at Fyffe, the nest being hidden among 
.some brakes in the forest. June ir, 1898 young in the .streaked plumage were 
shot at Fyffe. On June 10, 1900 a nest was found at about 3,000 feet, built in 
the pine needles on a bank, and contained four young. During th e latter part 
of May of the present 3’ear Mr. Taylor found a nest at Fyffe, situated in a dense 
growth of brakes, containing fresh eggs. On June 14 while walking along the 
road near the summit a junco flushed from beneath iny^ feet and a nest was found 
built in the side of a shallow ditch and concealed effectually by a tiny tamarack. 
It held four fresh eggs. The birds alway^s exhibit alarm when their nesting do- 
main is invaded and if the female be carefully watched the nest may be usually^' 
located within a short time. 
Melospiza melodia montana. Mountain Song .Sparrow. 
[I have seen a song sparrow several times about Lake Tahoe, especially in 
the marshy tracts near Tallac, but none have been taken. In July 1898 a song 
sparrow which I took to be this form was shot at Lily Lake in Glen Alpine, 'fhe 
specimen unfortunately was destroyed. A nest containing four eggs taken with 
this specimen, was built among ferns under a fallen aspen. The nest was of 
usual Melospiza formation, and the eggs are not different from those of J/. m. 
heermaiuii . — W. W. P.] 
Melospiza lincolni. Lincoln Sparrow. 
[Two specimens were taken at my camp on Silver Creek in Sept. 1896. They^ 
were probably migrants. — W. W. P.] 
Passerella iliaca unalaschcensis. Townsend Fox Sparrow. 
[Six or eight sparrows of this form were taken on Silver Creek, within three 
miles of Pyramid Peak in Sept 1896. One specimen was very light colored and 
referable to the fox sparrow, rather than to P. i. inialasc/icensis. — W. W. P.] 
Passerella iliaca megarhyncha. Thick-billed Sparrow. A common resident 
and sweet singer of the region, as abundant at Fyffe apparently as it is at higher 
altitudes. It is partial to the large tracts grown up to deer brush where, in the 
shade, it seeks seclusion, scratching for its food on the ground and only now and 
