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86, yet, as a condition which prevails on the Nevadan side of Tahoe, birds of much lower levels were not uncommon. Above Spooner a small colony of Redwings (Agelaius phoeniceus neutralis) was noted nesting in a swampy meadow; and here, well up the canyon, at an elevation of 7500 feet, where patches of snow still lay on the road, was the Black-headed Grosbeak (Zamelodia melanacephala capitalis) tossing exhilarating melody from the tree-tops along the brook.

For five miles or more we followed the narrow canyon until, after a sharp turn, we reacht the top of a snow-covered ridge, than from which perhaps there is no rarer view in all the region, for directly below, surrounded by virgin forests, is Marlette Lake, and rising farther back, that lofty snow-peak, Mount Rose. About the lake the altitude, 8000 feet, was evidently a little too high for Agelaius and Zamelodia, and all the species noted were typically high Sierran and were as follows: Sierra Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus sierrae), Red-shafted Flicker (Colaptes cafer collaris), Olive-side Flycatcher (Nuttallornis borealis), Western Wood Pewee (Myiochanes richardsoni), Blue-fronted Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis), Clarke Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), Sierra Junco (Junco hyemalis thurberi), Western Warbling Vireo (Vireosylva gilva swainsoni), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), Sierra Hermit Thrush (Hylocichla guttata sequoiensis).

After taking some views of Marlette we descended with the road to the lake shore, along its edge for some distance, and then, ascending the opposite mountainside, we found ourselves on the eastern summit of the Sierras. Far below lay the foothills and valley lands, and farther eastward the numberless barren mountain chains. Such deep snow covered the road, however, that we lost all trace of it and had to cut across the country as best we could. We met the road again at Hobart Creek Reservoir, a muddy lake in the open country, after a down-grade tramp which gave more of experience than pleasure. At the villa near the Hobart Pumping Station we spent the night and early next morning started down the long winding road which leads straight to Washoe Lake. Desiring to secure a good photograph of the lake we focust from numerous turns of the. road but Washoe does not lend itself well to the camera, for we either had too much or too little lake or mountain, and once, when the view was fair, a great dead tree persisted in occupying half the plate. From a pictorial point too, each curve of the road below appeared better than the one we were on, and in this way, altho we failed to get a picture of Washoe we soon reacht the level valley lands, where we made a short cut thru grainfields and orchards towards the lake. By a small brook we came upon a colony of American Magpies (Pica hudsonia), and, altho knowing this bird to be a very early breeder, I inspected some half dozen nests in willow trees, but in each case the young birds had left. Crossing some wide pasture lands where countless cattle were grazing we came to the shores of Washoe.

This lake with its murky water and surrounded by desert ranges, tule tracts or swampy pasture lands, is a striking contrast to Tahoe with its deep, dear water, and its great forests that run up lofty mountains and end in the snow. But I am not at all sure that Tahoe is richer in marsh and water birds. The Al Tahoe marsh (formerly known as Rowlands) is the only swamp of consequence at Lake Tahoe, where most of the shore line is either sandy or rocky, and it is smaller in extent than the great tule fields at the northern end of Washoe Lake.

As we crossed the pasture lands, we found the Killdeer (Oxyechus vociferus) exceedingly common, in fact I know of no place where I have found them equally so, and our first nest (found by Heinemann) was of this bird with four well incubated eggs. The latter were placed on a bed of even-sized pebbles, in a slight