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178 THE CONDOR ol. XIV about 9250 feet elevation. We started the ascent early and long before noon We were in a snowy region of an intense dazzling whiteness. From the snow which everywhere covered the ground came a peculiar white light as from myriad tiny suns, and which made the region seem more like fairyland than earth. In this snow country except for noisy Nutcrackers birds were few, an occasional Moun- tain Chickadee, Mountain Bluebird, Sierra Junco or Western Robin being all that were noted. Notwithstanding this scarcity, however, we put in half the day scanning the trees with the forlorn hope that one might contain one of those shallow platforms of twigs and rootlets, pecu!far to the family of grosbeaks, which ourmind's eye had often pictured. At 8500 feet altitude, where a roaring torrent billowed over rocks and boulders and through' high drifts of snow, .we stopped for luncheon to compare notes. To all it appeared necessary that the very next bird be secured for pur- poses of dissection. We now followed the waterway for some little time When, as it ? started a'very rapid descent? I who happened to be leading, crossed to the south bank. Littlejohn, interested in the distant movements of a Williamson Sapsucker, crossed also and coming later to a' fork we continued southwesterly. It was now a little after one o'clock and the three of us, about fifty yards apart, were rounding a very rocky hillside at the foot of which a shallow, placid lake glittered in the sunlight. Hearing the distant song of a Pine Grosbeak I drew nearer and soon saw the bird at the top of a fir about 200 feet high. Seldom if ever have I heard a more beautiful song than that which floated out from the top of the tall, massive fir and the effect of which the wild surroundings did much to accentuate. The day was .calm and still; that almost deathly silence peculiar to high altitudes remained unbroken save for the distant roar of angry snowstreams. The song of the California Pine Grosbeak does notl I think, bear so much resemblance to that of Carpodacus cassini (which Price has compared it with) as it does. to that of the Black-headed Grosbeak. However, as it is so much more varied, melodious and rich than that of the Black-headed Grosbeak, the com- parison merely serves to give a general idea of its style. The song consists of a series of trills, warblings and mellow, flute-like notes that must be heard to be appreciated. The bird as a songster ranks easily with the best of $ierran vocal- ists like the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Water Ouzel and Sierra Hermit Thrush. Unlike the Western Robin which, perched on some tree top, will sing through almost the entire day, the Pine Grosbeak is not a persistent singer and only on rare occasions have I been given the opportunity of hearing its song. As I rounded the tree the bird left its lofty perch and, alighting in a low fir nearby, began a peculiar melodious twittering which unfortunately at that time I did not know the meaning of. Although I disliked very nmch to shoot any Pine Grosbeak, and this one in particular, I remembered our previous agreement and called Littlejohn to the spot. He succeeded in only slightly wounding it, how- ever, for when it struck the ground, it was apparent that the bird was still very much alive. T.o add to the excitement of the occasion, as Littlejohn shot, another Pine Grosbeak with heavy, startled flight fluttered out from an adjacent fir. As our wounded bird was racing away we had no time to investigate this, but started in pursuit. After catching the disabled bird we returned to where the second bird had flown from. Littlejohn was slightly in the lead and when he reached the tree there, sure enough, on an open, outer branch in plain view, but sixteen feet up, was the