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partially veiled the cliffs, but where they parted, the mountain tops seemed 
to reach unmeasured heights. We drove past black oaks that wore a 
different splendor from the conifers to Mirror lake that reflected Half Dome 
in its snowy glory. We walked along the trail wondering at the bright 
staghorn moss on trunks and branches, at majestic white firs and Douglas 
firs and California laurel in bloom weighed down with snow — a scene of 
never-to-be-forgotten beauty. In the meadows Pacific tree frogs were 
loudly singing. 
May 2nd there was quite a migration, but it was hard to see b-rds in 
the great conifers. In front of Government Center thee band-tailed 
pigeons were eating flowers of the black oaks, a red-breasted nuthatch 
searched over an incense cedar, and gorgeous western tanagers sang. Mrs. 
D. E. McHenry, wife of the chief naturalist, and Mr. and Mrs. Fitzpatrick 
took us on a bird trip. At the Fitzpatricks’ feeding shelf there was a rare 
visitor — a female blue grosbeak that dominated the larger female black- 
headed grosbeak. A Steller’s jay mounted a ponderosa with building 
material. On the mountain-side we were shown an exquisite calliope 
hummingbird. Over Happy Isles we saw a golden eagle. At the old apple 
orchard our Yosemite friends were excited when I casually mentioned the 
presence of a loggerhead shrike, their third record since 1931. But what 
excited us visitors was a white-headed woodpecker, a most amazing crea- 
ture. Mrs. McHenry showed us water ouzels at Cascades View; they dove 
into the water and came out again carrying long insects. 
The next day we left, hoping to return again and again. At El Portal, 
just outside the park, we stopped to locate our 12th conifer, the curious 
knobecone pine; here we found a fairy land of wild flowers, new ones at 
every step, such brilliant, lovely things! Here we discovered a _ black- 
throated gray warbler building her nest in a canyon live oak; she came 
time and again with perfect disregard of her admirers. Her mate sang 
much like the black-throated green; it made me homesick to study a nest 
once more. ; 
5725 Harper Avenue, Chicago 37, Illinois. 
a fA ra 
Some Like It Hot 
THE UNSEASONABLE hot spell of May 4, 5 and 6, with temperatures above 
90 each day, brought reports of some unusual birding experiences. One 
observer in Milwaukee in four hours identified 126 species, including 26 
kinds of warblers, in a small park along the Milwaukee river. Other 
Milwaukee observers even exceeded this number in longer one-day periods. 
Birding in Chicago near the lake was only fair these days, but Alfred Reuss, 
a bander, found his traps in the Palos area southwest of Chicago jammed 
with white-throated sparrows, with 141 individuals one day. He previously 
had regarded 18 as a large catch for a day in May. A combination of high 
temperature and a falling barometer was suggested as the cause of the 
unusually large migration in some areas. Why the effect was not uniform 
over the entire affected area perhaps is one of those mysteries that make 
birding the fun it is. Birds still are where you find them. 
