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152 THE CONDOR VoL. XII flight against the head-wind return, the male accompanying her both times and perching on nearby rocks while she placed the material. We felt, however, that it was too great a risk to continue our investigations in. the vicinity of the nest, as the birds might desert it; so we rounded the peak to the east side where by careful watching we found three pairs engaged in nest-bild- ing. One pair Carriger and I observed together, and a pair each singly; but in every case the birds descended to such depths that all trace of them was lost. Sometimes they entered openings and crevises but a few feet away, carrying mate- rial, and would soon emerge again with an empty bill; but search ?s we would, as far as we could reach or see we'xvere unable to locate another nest, altho every movable boulder was dislodged. Other birds, again, were very wary, disappearing beneath the rocks with material and coining up twenty feet or so distant still car- rying it in the beak. It was only after a series of such decoy-trips as thbse, in the passages beneath the rock, that the elusive birds finally placed the material and flew away for more, leaving us completely bewildered as to the location of the nest. In every instance, it was the female who was engaged in the nest bilding, she was always accompanied by her twittering mate who remained on some nearby rock or hovered in the air while she disappeared between the rocks. One bird, a pr0teg? of Carriger's, went down thru the boulders and; altho he waited near the spot a long time, did not appear again. At half-past three I found a broken fresh egg, which we believed to be of this species, lying on a boulder at a point where a bird had previously gone in with nest material. On finding this we felt almost sure there were some nests on the peak containing eggs and we redoubled our efforts to flush sitting birds; but the longer we workt the more we began to realize that the nest found was placed in an exceptionally favorable location and that the chances of finding another similarly placed were excedingly remote. At five o'clock the strong southwest wind, which had begun blowing at three, now became so riotous that we were forced to leave. Before going, however, it was definitly agreed that I was to return on the 19th of June and revisit the nest found. With this object in view I spent considerable time "ducking" various prominent rocks in a line from the nest down the side of the peak to the nearest timber. The process of "ducking" consists of piling three rocks upon one another and is the common landmark used along all the mountain trails. To preclude the possibility of missing the location, at the third "duck" from the nest a blue cord was tied around a large boulder, while at the last a? arrow pointed strait to the nest-cavity; and in addition. to this, an accurate map of the location was drawn. While all this precaution may seem mmecessary one must consider that the entire peak is one mass of boulders and that particular spots would be ahnost impossible to remember. In fact we were surprized at the remarkable memory possest by the bilding birds who journeyed half a mile or more away and came back to the exact spot without hesitation; and when they did not do so, it was purposely. Returning, we made camp at dusk and after reviewing our experience long into the night, we came to the conclusion that, while we had a day or even two to spare, further trips to the peak would simply end ,in a fruitless search. Every- thing now, we felt, depended on the nest found, and upon the successful re- turn to it. The following morning was spent about Forni's, and at half-past one we started by Desolation Valley for Lake of the Woods. This picturesque lake of unrivaled beauty we reacht at six o'clock, after negotiating a series of precipitous cliffs and snow drifts, and fording a number of icy torrents. On the next day, after some field work about the lake in the early and frosty morning hours, we