Page:Condor3(6).djvu/33

 7 o THE CONDOR [ Vol. III about the poplar trees at the Five-mile House. This altitude perhaps marks the upper limit of its range as we did not observe it beyond this point in summer. Mr. Taylor Collected an adult mall at Meyer's Station October 2, x9ox. This speci- men appears paler and larger than birds from the  i.nterior valleys and coast dis- trict. L0xia curvir0stra benditel. Sierra Crossbill. On June 7, 899 I shot a male crossbill at Fyfte; the bird was in high plumage but showed little evidence ot nesting. The bird was sluggish in its movements, sitting on a low limb of a cedar tree where it was mistaken for a purple finch. On the following day a number were observed feeding in the tops of th pines, hanging head downward and ut- tering a sharp note. Mr. Taylor collected a female crossbill near Meyer's Station on Sept. x, 9o. [The crossbill is rare in summer in the Sierras. I have noted it on only two occasions, once Aug. xo, x892 in hemlock timber near Pyramid Peak and again in x9oo at the head of Glen Alpine gorge.--W. W. P.] Leuc0stictetephr0c0tis. Gray-crowued Leucosticte. This species was met with but once,--on. June o, x9oo when we climbed Pyramid Peak. The summit of the peak is a conglomerate mass of bowlders and slabs of rock thrown together in chaotic order. About these rocks at the summit we noted two pair of leucostic- tes. one pair being sectored. The contents of the stomach of the male bird were found to consist of the seeds of the white-bark pine, which grows in a dwarfed form up to perhaps within an eighth of a mile of the summit. The leucostictes ap- peared uneasy on account of our presence and after alighting for a moment on the rocks would sweep off in the strong wind, returning presently and frequently uttering their twittering note. This species undoubtedly nests among the rocks, and probably considerable patience would enable one to follow the female to her nest if the locality were visited at the beginning of the breeding season, which I should judge would be about the first of June. [This species has been observed and collected by me each year. but I haye never succeeded in finding its nesting place. Young just able to fly have been collected in late July. By the last of August leucostictes have begun to congre- gate in large flocks preparatory to a migration probably to the interior valleys of 'Nevada where th.ey are often seen in large numbers in winter. Their chief food in late summer consists of the small seeds of a borage and a stnall F'riooum. All the specimens examined contained more or less insect food, principally ants and small beetles. The birds delight in the broad snow-fields which cover the eastern slope of Pyramid Peak; here they may be seen searching for wind-blown insects and seeds. I have not seen the bird below 8ooo feet--W. W. P.] Astragalinus tristis salicamans. Willow Goldfinch. Observed in suitable locali- ties about Placerville by Mr. Chas. A. Swisler. Astragalinus psaltria. Arkansas Goldfinch. A common species in the moun- tain orchards at Fyffe and even higher up. I found a nest in a pear tree in June t898 containing young, the parent bird allowing me to come within two feet of her nest with a camera. The species is probably common in suitable localities from Fyffe downward. [In August, x892, I shot a male Arkansas goldfinch flying over the very suni- reit of Mt. Tallac. It was undoubtedly a straggler, for I have never since noted the species above 50oo feet.--W. W. P.] Astragalinus lawrencei. Lawrence Goldfinch.' [A pair were observed at Placer- ville, early in June x897, inla'deserted:orchard below the town. A pair were shot at Folsom in May x897, in the outskirts of the town where they were seen several