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long, closely crowded around a main stem. The stems are erect, stout and 
fleshy, 9 to 18 inches high and an inch or more thick. 
The road to Soda Springs was blocked with snow drifts, so we had to 
use another route which was much rougher, but lovely just the same. We 
were camped between the two lakes of Norden and Donner. Both were 
good places for birds. We saw marmots from time to time, but no conies, 
although they were seen other years. Possibly they had not yet awakened 
from their long winter nap. Mountain quail were heard often, but only one 
was seen by a few of us from the station wagon. Mountain blue birds, 
mountain chickadees, green-tailed towhees, rock wrens, fox sparrows, even- 
ing grosbeaks, abundant warbling vireos, western pewees, western tanagers, 
white-crowned sparrows, Oregon juncos, hermit thrushes, Audubon and 
pileolated warblers, were around camp with the Sierra finches. We heard the 
song of the hermit thrush from the top of a high fir tree. 
On Monday we all assembled at 8:30 a.m., and from then on our classes 
began in earnest, each day from 8:30 to noon — then luncheon and rest 
period. Field work was done from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m., dinner was at six, 
and from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. there were lectures or pictures. We had many 
fine trips by station wagon to study the different environments. I was up 
nearly every morning at 5:00 a.m., and the two hours before breakfast gave 
me many nice experiences. It was too early to see the birds I was hearing, 
so I went as far from camp as possible in the dawn so that I could watch the 
birds but still return for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. As the sun rose, it colored 
the mountains with a beautiful Alpine glow. 
Birds were starting to nest; robins were all over the place. A very un- 
usual record was that of a junco building a nest under the eaves above our 
window. When we told this to our leaders, we had to show them the nest 
to prove our statement, for the junco is a ground nesting bird. When the 
Clark’s nutcrackers came to camp, those who wanted to see them most 
could not be found, which was quite a disappointment, as the birds only 
appeared once. 
I was very glad to see the white-headed woodpecker, for Miss Belle Wil- 
son told me she had looked for that woodpecker ten years before she 
found him. However, I was disappointed not to find the dipper, for I had 
high hopes of seeing it at Boulder, Colorado the year before but failed, and 
then I failed again at Sugar Bowl. Because of the heavy snows, it might 
have been delayed until after I had left there. The red-breasted sapsucker 
and California woodpecker were both colorful birds. I saw the California 
woodpecker and red-breasted nuthatch building their nests in the same old 
tree stump without any interference from the golden and ruby-crowned 
kinglets and Sierra brown creepers, which were there in numbers. 
For any one in the Mid-Western states to go to this camp from the 
prairies to the mountains provides a valuable education. I can highly 
recommend it to any one who would care to join a fine group of like-minded 
people. I have met some good friends through these contacts. 
6335 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago 37, Illinois 
