Sept., 1905 | 
139 
Dry Notes from Dry Lake 
BY JOSEPH DIXON 
D RY LAKE is tucked away among the mountain ridges about 2400 feet below 
the summit of San Gorgonio Peak, San Bernardino Co., Lalifornia. This 
lake has an elevation of over 9000 feet, and at times it is a very pretty little 
stretch of water covering five or six acres. We found when we visited it on the 
twenty-first day of last June, that it contained considerable water which was due 
to last winter’s heavj' snowfall. Yet during certain previous years it has held very 
little or no water; hence the name. 
There is a fringe of dead Murray pines some 50 yards in breadth bordering 
the lake. Back of this there is a dense forest of Murray pines, extending up the 
slope of the mountain side where the trees become smaller and smaller and more 
gnarled and stunted as they approach timber line; while in the background the 
snow-capped summit of ban Gorgonio Peak stands like a sentinel of old, keeping 
watch over the little lake nestled among the mountain ridges below it. 
Just north of the lake is a beautiful little eienega while on the slope above 
this are a few Jeffrey pines scattered over the mountain side which is covered 
with chinquapin thickets. As we were descending the mountain side above the 
lake Mr. Grinnell shot at a Sierra hermit thrush ( Hylocic/ila g. sequoieusis) , which 
flew up into a small grove of dense pines. The report of the gun flushed a grav 
flycatcher (Empidonax canescens) from a small pine tree. 1 secured the bird as she 
lit on an adjoining tree and soon located the nest which was placed about nine feet 
up in a slender pine. The nest was made of the inner bark of a kind of willow 
that grew nearby. 'Phi s material being of a light color made the nest rather con- 
spicuous as it contrasted with the dark foliage of the pine trees. The nest though 
bulky was neatly made and contained four light cream-colored eggs. The eggs 
were not spotted'and incubation was far advanced. 
We went on past the lake and made camp up a side canyon; then started out 
to explore the vicinity. I had just started when 1 heard a deep mellow drum- 
ming off in the woods ahead of me. Then suddenly the drumming became higher 
pitched and the vibrations more rapid. After a short interval 1 again heard the 
deep mellow roll. 1 sneaked up near a big dead pine tree from which the sound 
seemed to issue. Pretty soon a Cabanis woodpecker ( Dryobates v. hyloscopus) 
hopped up on one of the big dead branches and, bracing himself, gave the branch 
several rapid pecks with his bill. This produced the deep mellow roll that I had 
heard at first. He then dropped down to a lower smaller limb and repeated the 
performance causing the high pitched roll. He then hopped up to the big branch 
then back to the smaller branch and drummed again. The various noises that he 
produced reminded me very much of some one playing on a xylophone, and, 
although I have heard many other woodpeckers drumming, this one w'as to my 
mind unique as he was able to handle several limbs at once, in good time. 
An ashy kinglet ( Regulus calendula cineraceus ) sang from the top of one of 
the largest pines until sunset when the clear limpid notes of the Sierra hermit 
thrush floated down from the meadow above us. The song of the hermit thrush 
is, to my mind, the most exquisite of bird music. At early morning or late even- 
ing they could be heard from the mountain slope above and cautious approach re- 
vealed them perched on the top of some large pine tree which stood among deep 
snow drifts which covered the north slope of the mountain. 
Soon after sunset the western night hawks ( Chordeiles v. henryi ) made their 
appearance, flying about uttering their rasping pe-ark , pe-ark , or pitching down 
