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 THE. CO.II).R Volume XII September=October, 1910 Number THE DISCOVERY OF THE NEST AND EGGS OF THE GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE By MILTON S. RAY WITH TWELVE'PHOTOS BY OLUF J. HEINEMANN A FTER baffling scores of searching o/51ogists during the long period since the bird was first described by Swainson in 1831, the nest and eggs of the Gray-crowned Leucosticte (JLettcoslicle le;,rocol/s le;,rocolis) have at last been brought to light. The place of discovery is Pyramid Peak, a lofty mountain of the great Sierran chain, in the eastern portion of Eldorado County, California. And now, a nest having at last been found, the reason why the small army of collectors have searcht in vain becomes more apparent, the nests being either invisible or inaccessible, probably as a rule both. I had reacht Bijou on Lake Tahoe on the 20th of May, 1910.. It was not until after Mr. Henry W. Carriger joined me on the third of June, however, that the trip to Pyramid Peak, in quest of those eggs which have hitherto seemed almost as impossible to secure as those of the Roc of of some fabled Halcyon, was deftnifty determined upon.. In the matter of a proper date for eggs, we had, of course, but little to guide us. Chester Barlow, who no dour based his calcu'lations upon the dissection of birds shot, has stated that he was of the opinion that the birds begin to bild around the first of June. From this we figured that if the peak was reacht by the tenth it would be in ample time for eggs, should a nest be located. Having previously ascended Pyramid Peak, however, on July 5, 1902, x and having spent some hours searching for the homes of those finches of cloudland, the prospects to me did not seem very promising. In addition, too, was the long list of unsuccessful attempts, and particularly those in recent times in this very locality, by such experienced men as'Chester Barlow, W.L. Atkinson, J. M. Willard, and Auk, Vol. xx, pp. 187,188.