Jan., 1912 THROUGH TAHOEAN MOUNTAINS 13 trail Heinemann flushed a Sierra Junco (Junco byemalls thurberi) from its nest, well concealed among weeds and containing two small young and an infertile egg. It was nearly dark when we reached the lake, which we found almost entirely frozen over, while most of the surrounding country was covered with snow. During the chilly night the ice-covered lake and its snowy shores, glittering in the moonlight, presented a landscape that seemed more like one in the dead of winter than on the first of July. In strange contrast to the cold nights, in these altitudes often so cold as to cause hard- ? ? x - 4 ship to one camping out, the ? days were usually warm and pleasant, and at times ex- ? tremely hot, which the snow ? by reflection increased rath- ? ! er than din?inished. When I the light of the welcome morn- ing sun came filtering through the trees about our camp, we became aware of the presence of a pair of California Pine Grosbeaks (]?inicola e. cali- fornica) which were watched with that extreme interest which must ever be given to birds who?e eggs remain un- known to science. The gros- beaks remained about our camp for some time, feeding on the ground and in the trees. If the birds were nesting ! failed to gain any clue of it from their actions, for they flitted from branch to branch, ? ,X? and from tree to tree in a ii leisurely and unconcerned ' I i? '?'?i ' fashion, finally taking wing ' - across the lake and disappear- ? ing in the heavy timber. After a refreshing swim ? ?xo in the frigid waters of the lake ?' ! ? 5? '? we rambled along its shores
? ? ' for some distance. Near the
' water's edge where the snow had melted I found beneath an Fig. 6. AN UNUSUAL NESTING SITE OF THE SIERRA JUntO overhanging bush a well con- AT LaI?E-Or-TI?E-WOOUS cealed nest of the Sierra Juneo with four large young. Farther on, one of the Andubon Warbler (I)endrot'ca audubo- hi) was found eighteen feet up in a hemlock, also with four large young. The nest was made of weed stems, grasses, bark strips and rootlets, and lined with feathers. The limbs had the characteristic droop of trees in high altitudes and made the climb rather difficult. The most interesting nest found about the lake, however, was one of the Sierra Junco placed in a cavity of a fir stump three feet above the
