to the
haunt of a warbling vireo: "Seated on the ground, in a convenient
place for watching the vireo, which was on the nest, we were soon
attracted by a vireo's song. Search for the singer failed to find
it, until we noted that the bird on the nest seemed to be singing.
Then, as we watched, over and over again the bird was seen to lift
up its head and pour out the long, rich warble--a most delicious
sight and sound. Are such ways usual among birds, or did we chance
to see and hear an unusual thing?"

It was soon evident that the western robins were abundant about
Georgetown, as they were on the plains and among the foothills. They
were principally engaged just now in feeding their young, which had
already left their nests. Presently I shall have more to say about these
birds. Just now I was aware of some little strangers darting about in
the air, uttering a fine, querulous note, and at length descending to
the ground to feast daintily on the seeds of a low plant. Here I could
see them plainly with my glass, for they gave me gracious permission to
go quite near them. Their backs were striped, the predominant color
being brown or dark gray, while the whitish under parts were streaked
with dusk, and there were yellow decorations on the wings and tails,
whether the birds were at rest or in flight. When the wings were spread
and in motion, the golden ornamentation gave them a filmy appearance.
On the wing, the birds, as I afterwards observed, often chirped a little
lay that bore a close resemblance in certain parts to the
"pe-chick-o-pe" of the American goldfinch. Indeed, a number of their
notes suggested that bird, as did also their manner of flight, which was
quite undulatory. The birds were the pine siskins. They are very common
in the Rockies, ranging from an elevation of eight thousand feet to the
timber-line. This pert and dainty little bird is the same wherever found
in North America, having no need of the cognomen "western" prefixed to
his name when he takes it into his wise little head to make his abode in
the Rocky Mountains.

_CLEAR CREEK VALLEY_

_A scene near Georgetown. The copses in the valley are the home of
white-crowned sparrows, willow thrushes, Lincoln's sparrows and Wilson's
warblers; the steep, bushy acclivities are selected by the spurred and
green-tailed towhees, Audubon's and Macgillivray's warblers; while the
western robins, pine siskins, and broad-tailed humming