. Animal life in the Yosemite; an account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada. Zoology. Fig. 52. Bills of (o) Cassin Purple Finch, (h) California Evening Grosbeak, and (c) Sierra Nevada Rosy Finch, from above. Natural size. The Eosy Finch remains in the cold high country throughout the winter and is well provided with a "snow-mask" over the nostrils. or junco from below. No one is contesting with him for possession. The following typical experience, recorded on the spot by the senior author, gives an idea of some of the peculiaritie
. Animal life in the Yosemite; an account of the mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians in a cross-section of the Sierra Nevada. Zoology. Fig. 52. Bills of (o) Cassin Purple Finch, (h) California Evening Grosbeak, and (c) Sierra Nevada Rosy Finch, from above. Natural size. The Eosy Finch remains in the cold high country throughout the winter and is well provided with a "snow-mask" over the nostrils. or junco from below. No one is contesting with him for possession. The following typical experience, recorded on the spot by the senior author, gives an idea of some of the peculiarities of the bird and of its habitation. On treeless ridge at about 11,000 feet, above Vogelsang Lake, afternoon of August 31: sharp west wind; black clouds piling along; reverberating peals of thunder at intervals; dashes of rain now and then, driving over the ridge. A dozen or more rosy finches are in sight, forming a loose flock which flies bravely from the lee side up into the teeth of the wind, only to be overwhelmed and swept back into space above the great glacial basin lying below. Presently they rally and come up again, this time tacking diagonally; then they dash by, across the wind, skimming the ledges in a headlong course toward a distant snow bank, to be quickly lost to the eye. All the while quaint chirps apprise the observer of the presence of the birds somewhere in the vicinity, although direction becomes hopelessly mixed amid the eddying gusts. No matter how far adrift the birds go in their wild flights, the snow field seems to hold them magnetized, for back they always swing. The flights themselves seem of no use in the economy of existence: Can they be expressions of jubilance resulting from excess of vigor? One can imagine the rosy finches similarly disporting themselves in midwinter about the selfsame ridges. The scanty vegetation now going to seed is then uncovered periodically by the winter gales, so that their accustomed fare is continually available at one
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Keywords: ., bookauthorgr, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectzoology
