May, 1913 
SOME FURTHER NOTES FROM THE TAHOE REGION 
113 
usually small complement of four eggs. Strange to say, two of these were in- 
fertile and two were pipped. 
The day following, a nest of the Tree Swallow (Iridoprocne bicolor) was 
noted, with seven fresh eggs. It was built in a cavity in a pile of a wharf along 
the lake shore above deep water, a favorite nesting site here for this species. In 
this locality seven eg'gs is the usual complement although from all I have been 
able to learn five is the common number laid in the coast region. From this it 
might appear that a comparison of the number of eggs laid by the same species 
in high and low altitudes would be worthy of investigation. In those localities 
where seasonal conditions do not allow the raising of a second brood it may be 
found that this is partially compensated for by the increased size of the initial 
complement. 
June 6 was spent at Al-Tahoe marsh where the customary nests of the Yel- 
low-headed Blackbird (Xanflioccphaliis xanthocephaliis) , and of the Red-winged 
Blackbird were noted. In previous articles the latter was recorded as Agclaius 
phocniceus iiciitralis, which was the label given by the California Academy 
of Sciences. I have had several of the skins recently examined by Mr. Harry S. 
Swarth of -the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology who writes as follows: “The black- 
birds are exactly like specimens that Taylor collected in Humboldt County, Ne- 
vada, and which he has rather hesitatingly referred to Agclaius phocniceus sono- 
riensis. They are certainly not neutralis of southern California, which has a 
much heavier bill.” 
Besides the nests of the blackbirds I found one in which I was especially in- 
terested, that of a Wilson Phalarope {Stcgauopiis tricolor). This, a frail affair 
of grasses, was placed on the ground among thick grass near the edge of a fast 
flowing slough, and contained a single fresh egg. The photograph was taken on 
June 19, at which time the nest held four eggs well advanced in incubation. It 
was necessary to cut away some of the thick grass in front in order to have the 
nest and eggs show on the plate. 
Returning to Bijou by Trout Creek, two nests were found of the Audubon 
Warbler {Dendroica auduhoni), which well illustrate the wide variation in Sier- 
ran nesting dates. One nest twenty-five feet up, on the extreme end of a limb ol 
a giant lodgepole pine, was newly built, while the other, placed against the trunk 
of a small lodgepole pine, fifteen feet up, held four young ready to fly. 
On June 9, a nest of the Ruby-crowned Kinglet {Regulus calendula calen- 
dula), first found on May 27, was collected with the small complement of five 
eggs. The nest, placed but ten feet up in a small lodgepole pine, is a gem of bird 
architecture. Plant fibers, mosses, plant down and fine bits of bark are daintily 
woven together and warmly lined with feathers and a few horsehairs. The nest 
is semi-pendant, broad-brimmed and thick-walled. The eggs are creamy-white, 
faintly clouded, chiefly around the larger end, with light brown. The female 
was collected with the set, insuring positive identification. 
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet is not uncommon in Lake Valley (elevation 
6620 feet), but is more abundant at higher elevations such as Summit, Forni’s 
and Cold Creek Meadows, all of which lie between 7000 and 7500 feet altitude. 
To find a nest of these melodious midgets, however, is by no means easy, for 
their diminutive homes, tucked away among thick foliage, are difficult to s])y,' and 
sitting birds are rarely flushed. The Kinglet frequents the vicinity of streams 
and meadowlands, and the song is one of the most beautiful of all to be heard in 
the Sierran woodland. Beginning with a quick and melodious succession of 
“chill, chill, chill,” it runs faster and faster and ends by carolling out into those 
