70 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
derricks and electric poles, as on the two-mile electric line between my ranch 
and Sunnyside, but have returned to their former nesting sites in trees when 
possible as is shown by the absence of nests in the ten-mile electric line between 
Sunnyside and Granger, which runs through an older section of the valley 
which is now abundantly supplied with large trees. 
Coincident with this adaptation, though, can be pointed out the great mor- 
tality among the young birds in the incompleteness of the adaptation, practi- 
cally total in the hay-derrick nests, and high in the electric pole nests, in the 
latter because of the insecurity against winds. A perfect adaptation would 
avoid the derricks, which are death traps during haying, and would result in 
building a nest securely enough fastened on an electric pole to avoid blowing 
doAvn during storms. 
Palo Alto, California, January 29, 1915. 
NESTING OP THE AMERICAN OSPREY AT EAGLE LAKE, CALIFORNIA 
By MILTON S. RAY 
WITH FOUR PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE AUTHOR 
D URING the past season’s work afield (1914) Chase Littlejohn and the 
writer traveled something over a thousand miles. One of the many side 
trips taken was from Susanville to Eagle Lake and back, in company 
with Mr. Frank P. Cady, the dis- 
Fig. 22. Near Schuler, at the north end 
of Eagle Lake. The region here is 
BUT SPARSELY TIMBERED, IN STRIKING CON- 
TRAST TO THE CONDITIONS AT THE LOWER 
END OF THE LAKE 
trict’s game warden. As we were 
engaged in gathering certain data 
for the Fish and Game Commission, 
in addition to our own personal 
field-work, Mr. Cady aided us in 
every way possible, besides placing 
his motor car at our disposal. 
Although we arrived at Trux- 
ell’s on the east-central shore of 
Eagle Lake at dusk on May 16, it 
was not until we reached Schuler at 
the northern end of the lake, at noon 
next day, that we saw our first 
American Osprey ( Pandion haliaetus 
carotin ensis ) . The occurrence of 
this species was of particular inter- 
est to me as Eagle Lake is one of the 
few points in inland California from 
which the bird has been recorded as 
not uncommon during the summer. 
On account of the bad condi- 
tion of the roads we left the motor 
car at Schuler and continued on to 
Spalding’s, our final destination, 
by motor boat. At Spalding’s, 
which lies in heavy timber on 
the southwestern side of the lake, 
