Transcribing the field notes of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology

Collector: Grinnell - 1925 Location: Lassen Section (Mineral) Date: June 16-17, 1925 Page Number: 2470

without loitering at the threshold. But as it emerges, it looks about a moment, before flying away. Usually when leaving, an adult carries a pellet of excrement in its bill, taking it to a distance, beyond my range of sight. At times both old birds are in the nest hole together. The young must be very small, as I can hear no notes from them when being fed. Such food as I can see brought, consists of green caterpillars. Western Chipping Sparrow's nest: rises 65 inches above ground; in small yellow pine, one of a close growing clump of these out in open away from larger trees, bare ground predominating in vicinity, some clumps of ceanothus (snow-bush). Nest very shallow in outside proportions, resting on needles and two 1/2-inch branches and against main 1&1/2-inch stem of pine. One of the branches forming the support comes from an adjacent tree, but in adjoining against the other so as not to move in ordinary breeze. Bird was sitting closely, and there are four eggs, opaque when held towards the sunlight, so far incubated. June 17 Mollie and I left camp at 6:45 for Berkeley Mountain, via the trail to Viola which leaves the vicinity of Mineral on the gently rising ridge just east of Martin Creek. The trail is a good one tho little traveled, not at all yet this year, save by a horseman up as far as the snow allowed,

Collector: Grinnell - 1925 Location: Broke-off Mt. Date: July 27 Page Number: 2531

came to the distended gullet, I could see the "seeds" showing thru the transparent walls! But the sole contents proved to be smooth bright green caterpillars, 13 of them, very uniform in size, 12 to 17 mm. long, tho decidedly stretchable.

Up to summit of Broke-off Mt. and back, with family. Left camp at 7 a.m., in Ford, up "Lassen road" to where "short trail" to Broke-off turns off to left (not more than 1/2 miles below "Soupan springs." From there to the top by trail in about 4 miles, 7000 to 9500 ft. alt. two life-zones are traversed - Canadian, with red fir as chief indicated, and Hudsonian, with alpine hemlock as indicator. But there is much blending between these two, and no "line" can be drawn to separate them. The middle of the belt of mergence on the south-east side of Broke-off I should say averaged about 8000 ft. There is no true timberline on this mountain, altho [sic] the upper 400 non-precipitous feet of the top is mostly bare. Yet scrubby hemlocks go up in places to within a few yards of the brightest parts of the short crest.

Mr. John W. Gransbury is the present Forest Lookout on the top, which is provided with a very comfortable glass-sided lookout house - rather airy in "feeling", as it is on the brink of the crumbling ^^{east and} northeast declivity, from which rocks often fall. As I waved the top, at 12:30, two Duck Hawks passed close over me and directly over the house.