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 Sept., I9o51 x39 Dry Notes from Dry Lake BY JOSEPH DIXON RY LAKE is tucked away among the mountain ridges about 24oo feet below the summit of San Gorgonio Peak, San Bernardino Co., k'alifornia. This lake has an elevation of over 9o0o feet, and at times it is a very pretty little stretch of water covering five or six acres. We found when we visited it on the twenty-first day of last June, that it contained considerable water which was due to last winter's heavy snowfall. Yet during certain previous years it has held very little or no water; hence the name. There is a fringe of dead Murray pines some 50 yards in breadth bordering the lake. Back of this there is a dense forest of Murray pines. extending up the slope of the mountain side where the trees become smaller and smaller and more gnarled and stunted as they approach timber line; while in the background the snow-capped summit of Gan Gorgonio I'eak stands like a sentinel of old, keeping watch over the little lake nestled among the mountain ridges beh)w it. Just north of the lake is a beautiful little cienega while on the slope above this are a few Jeffrey pines scattered over the mountain side which is covered with chinquapin thickets. As we were descending the m,uutain side above the lake Mr. Grinnell shot at a Sierra hermit thrush (/'/ocic/tla ,'. srquoieusis). which flew up into a small grove of dense pines. The report of the gun flushed a gray flycatcher (Empidotax canesceus) fr{m a small pine tree. I secured the bird as she lit on an adjoining tree and s(l(m located the nest which was placed ahont nine feet np i a slender pine. The nest wasmnde {,fthe inner bark of a kind of a'ilh)w that grew nearby. This material bcing,,fa ligitc(d,,r made the re'st rather spicnous as it contrasted with the dark foliage of the pine trees. The nest timugh bulky was neatly made and c(ntained four light cream-col,rtd eggs. The eggs were uot spotted and incubati,n was far advanced. We went on past the lake and made camp up a side canyon; then started out to explore the vicinity. I had just started when I heard a deep mellow drum- ming tiff in the woods ahead of me. Theu suddenly the drumming became higher pitched and the vibrations more rapid. After a short interval I again heard the deep mellow roll. I sneaked up near a big dead pine tree from which the sound seemed to issue. Pretty soon a Cabanis woodpecker (Dr.,obates v. hyloscofius) hopped up on one of the big dead branches and, bracing himself, gave the branch several rapid pecks with his bill. This produced the deep mellow roll that I had heard at first. He then dropped down to a lower smaller limb and repeated the performance causing the high pitched roll. He then hopped up to the big branch then back to the smaller branch and drummed again. The various noises that he produced reminded me very much of some one playing on a xylophone, and, although I have heard many other woodpeckers drumming, this one was to my mind unique as he was able to handle several limbs at once, in good time. An ashy kinglet (Regulus ca/endula cineraceus) sang from the top of one of the largest pines until sunset when the clear limpid notes of the Sierra hermit thrush floated down from the meadow above us. The song of the hermit thrush is, to my mind, the most exquisite of bird music. At early morning or late even- ing they could be heard from the mountain slope above and cautious approach re- vealed them perched on the top of some large pine tree which stood among deep snow drifts which covered the north slope of the mountain. Soon after sunset the western night hawks (Choralelies v. henryi) made their appearance, flying about uttering their raspingfie-ark, fie-ark, or pitching down