174 
THE CONDOR 
1 Vol. Ill 
west side of the mountains above 5000 feet. W. W. P.] 
Cyanospiza amoena. Lazuli Bunting. This species is not uncommon on open 
hillsides and in the mountain orchards about Fyffe. On June 10, 1897, Mr. Beck 
collected a nest and four fresh eggs at Fyffe, the location being a bush about three 
feet high. i\Ir. Taylor and I noted the species in June, 1901, at about 5,000 feet 
altitude on Peavine ridge. 
[A single specimen was shot in September, 1896, on Silver Creek, at about 
7,000 feet. It seems rare above 4500 feet. W. W. P.] 
Piranga ludoviciana. Louisiana Tanager. Common in the timber from 3000 
feet to the summit. It feeds principall}’ in the black oaks, where its gaudy 
plumage contrasts sharply with the light green leaves. Birds are seen through 
the forest with all shades of intensity in the red coloration. During June, 1901, 
the species seemed unusually abundant, traveling about the forest in flocks es- 
pecially at Slippery P'ord, though the cool summer may have been responsible 
for late mating and nest-building. At Fyffe on June 17, 1896, I found a nest 18 
feet up on a horizontal pine limb, containing four incubated eggs. June 12, 1897, 
a nest built at the tip of a spruce limb 35 feet up wms found containing young. 
June 16, 1898, a nest was located 50 feet up on a horizontal pine limb and con- 
tained young. On June 9 at Pacific and June 14 at Echo nest-building was just 
in progress. The black oak trees are frequently resorted to as nesting sites, the 
nests being always built on a horizontal limb. 
[Noted to at least 9000 feet on both Pyramid Peak and Mt. Tallac, but is per- 
haps most abundant between 3000 and 6000 feet. In August the young are often 
met with in flocks of a dozen or more, feeding among the tamarack pines in com- 
pany with several kinds of warblers, vireos and flycatchers. This gathering pre- 
liminary to migration has'been noted each year that I spent at Silver Creek, 
and also in Clen Alpine. W. W. P.] 
Progne subis hesperia. Western Martin. On June 4, 1900, a number of these 
martins were circling about the Cary House at Placerville, in the top brick-work 
of which they appeared to be nesting. They twittered sharply during their 
flight up and down the main business street of the towm. 
[P'ound nesting, in July 1896 in holes in a blasted pine stub some sixty feet 
from the ground. This was on the top of the Peavine ridge, about four miles 
northeast of Slippery Ford. None were shot, but the nearness of the birds and 
their notes made identification positive. W.W. P.] 
Petrochelidon lunifrons. Cliff Swallow. Common about the barn at Fyffe on 
June 6, 1899. Nesting abundantly on the barn at Meyer’s Station on June 15, 
1891. 
Hirundo erythrogaster. Barn Swallow. Observed at Fyffe with the preced- 
ing species on June 6, 1899. At the Brownell place above Slippery Ford a pair 
were nesting in the barn on June ii, while the species was common at Mej^er’s 
Station on June 15, 1901. 
Tachycineta bicolor. Tree vSwallow. Reported by Mr. Beck as nesting com- 
monly in dead stubs at Biiou on the shore of Lake Tahoe, one nest found on 
June 2, 1896, being built in an old woodpecker’s hole. 
Tachycineta thalassina. Violet-green Swallow. [Common in August on the 
lakes in Glen Alpine, where some have been shot nearly every year. They ap- 
pear usually on cloudy, rainj' days and skim low over the water. The greater 
part seem to be young and they are probably on a migration. This year 1901, I 
saw numbers August 12, flying over the lakes in Desolation Valle3q on the north 
side of P\wamid Peak, 8000 feet. W. W. P. j 
