THE CONDOR 
I Vol. Ill 
184 
were observed flitting about some manzanita bushes. 
Myadestes townsendi. Townsend Solitaire. One shot at Fyffe June 20, 1896 by 
W. H. 0 .sgood. Mr. Beck found a nest built on the ground in the shell of burnt 
tree near Echo, containing three eggs. Mr. Taylor sent me four specimens taken 
at Glen Alpine Springs in September and one from Meyer’s Station Oct 7, 1901. 
Hylocichla ustulata. Russet-backed Thrush. Observed to be fairly common 
along the wooded streams from Fyffe to Riverton. June ii, 1898 a number were 
heard singing in the maples bordering a small stream at Fyffe. On June 9, 1901 
several were heard in a canyon between Pacific and Riverton. 
Hylocichla aonalaschkae. Dwarf Hermit Thrush. Observed at Placerville by 
Mr. C. A. Swisler during February, 1901, when a single bird was a visitor to his 
yard for about two weeks. An occasional winter visitant. 
Hylocichla aonalaschkae sequoiensis. Big Tree Thrush. I first heard the song 
of this thrush about dusk in the tamarack timber west of Pyramid Peak and found 
it present in considerable numbers on a me adow near the summit of the stage 
road. The border of the meadow was thickly grown up with second-growth 
tamaracks, from the cover of which the thrushes sang with rare melod3u I re- 
gretted that rapid travel to our day’s destination prevented my sitting and listen- 
ing to the delicious music which seemed to pour from all sides. Mr. Taylor col- 
lected an immature specimen of this thrush at Glen Alpine Springs on Sept. 16, 
1901. In June, 1896 Mr. Beck collected a nest of the Big Tree thrush above Echo, 
the nest being built 40 feet up in a pine tree, quite in contrast to the usual nest- 
ing site. The nest held four eggs. [Common wherever there is timber, and 
damp thickets of willow and alder above 6000 feet. — \\h W. P.] 
Merula migratoriapropinqua. Western Robin. One of the noisy and enliven- 
ing birds of the entire region, nesting commonly at all altitudes. It is found in 
every mountain orchard, where the nests are built in apple or other fruit trees. 
More often pine and cedar saplings are selected as nesting sites, the nests being 
often placed in the tops of the trees, resting on a horizontal branch next to the 
trunk. They are composed outwardly of mud and grass and lined with grasses; the 
usual complement of eggs is four. 
Hesperocichla nsvia. During the winter of 1900 Mr. Taylor sent me a varied 
thrush, which he had collected from a flock in the pines. [Observed at Slippery 
Ford, April 20, 1897. Collected on Silver Creek, Oct. i, 1896. — W. W. P.] 
Sialia mexicana occidentalis. Western Bluebird. Common as far up at least 
as Fyffe. In 1898 a pair nested in a tall burnt stub at Fyffe, the cavity being 
near the top of the tree, while a pair of white-headed woodpeckers occupied a 
hole lower down. The bluebirds have returned to the same stub in subsequent j^ears. 
Sialia arctica. Mountain Bluebird. Observed from 5,500 feet upward. Mr. 
Atkinson found a nest at 9,200 feet altitude on Pyramid Peak, June 10, 1900. The 
nest was built in a hole of a stub, about 15 feet from the ground, and contained 
one egg. At Echo on June 14, 1901 a pair were flying about numerous stubs on a 
meadow, where they were doubtless nesting. Observed commonh' about Meyer’s 
Station, where Mr. Taylor collected several in September. 
[In June 1896 I collected a male and female and several young of this form a 
mile or two above the Six-mile House, and a male at F^'ffe. This is the lowest al- 
titude at which I have noted them. The arctic bluebird is one of the characteris- 
tic species of the great glacier-swept basins, — Rockbound and Desolation Valleys, 
nesting in the dwarfed tamarack pines, using holes excavated apparently by Will- 
iamson sapsucker. W. W. P.] 
Passer doniesticus. English Sparrow. Recorded at Placer\^lle by Mr. Chas. 
A. Swisler. 
