Red-Winged Blackbird on the Sierras in Winter
Red-winged Blackbird on the Sierras in Winter
While sleighing to Donner Lake from Truckee on February 28, last, I was much struck by the absence of bird-life, only a couple of small birds flitting through some pines, having been seen. Unfortunately, it was impossible to form even an idea of the identity of these.
Upon approaching the lake, a solitary male Red-wing flew up from the snow into a nearby pine, which act was repeated as we set forth upon the return journey. The bird each time was within a few feet of the sleigh, and it was readily seen that its plumage was quite ragged; also that the red shoulder patches were quite heavily barred with buff.
Even with the probability that the bird had been forced to remain in such severe winter quarters through injury, its presence in such a locality upon the date mentioned seems worthy of record.
JOHN W. MAILLIARD
San Francisco, California.
