Page:Condor12(3).djvu/3

 TIIE. CO.b.OR Volume Xil lla-June 1910 Number FROM TAHOE TO WASHOE By MILTON S. KAY WITH TWO PHOTOS BY 0LUF J. HEINEMANN N PLANNING the seasoWs field work at our 1909 base, Bijou, Lake Tahoe, the trip to Washoe Lake, Nevada, was one that very favorably imprest us, as not only the lake itself but the country intervening, promist much to the stu- dent of bird-life. On the morning of June 22 we left Bijou in our motor-boat, which took us as far as Glenbrook, Nevada. Glenbrook was formerly a town, in fact the principal one on the lake. The place now, however, is merely an obscure summer resort. The surrounding mountains, once magnificently timbered, now show but a sparse second-growth, with here and there a great gnarly pine or fir which give some idea of their former grandeur. At half past ten Heinemann and I, each with a pack of about forty pounds, set out on the Carson Road. The day was warm, and the road, except where crost by some stream bordered by willows and aspens, was unsheltered. On reaching Spooner we took the Marietie Lake Road, this being the best route to Washoe. About Spooner, which is situated on the summit of one of the lower ranges at an elevation of 7,000 feet, are tracts of country typically Nevadan, being dry, rocky and brushy. In these patches we found the Brewer Sparrow abundant, and I was fortunate in disc. overing a nest along the road in the top o,f a sage bush two feet up. It was made of weed stems and bark strips, lined with fine, reddish rootlets and a few horsehairs, and contained two small young and an infertile egg. Spizel/a breweri evidently possesses no markt vocal ability and its dull plumage matches the arid region it inhabits. Leaving Spooner, the road, after some preliminary bends and turns, finally sallied forth up a long,' narrow, wooded canyon thru which courst a small stream of limpid water. The road, following the waterway, led thru pines and firs, thick- ets of willow, and wonderfully beautiful aspen groves. Several nests of the Western Robin (Planesticus migratoius propinquus)were found, which either contained, or had recently contained, young. Altho we were continually ascend-