BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



UP AND DOWN THE HEIGHTS 



TO study the birds from the level plains to the 

 crests of the peaks swimming in cloudland; 

 to note the species that are peculiar to the 

 various altitudes, as well as those that range from 

 the lower areas to the alpine heights ; to observe the 

 behavior of all the birds encountered in the West, 

 and compare their habits, songs, and general deport- 

 ment with those of correlated species and genera in 

 the East; to learn as much as possible about the 

 migratory movements up and down the mountains as 

 the seasons wax and wane, — surely that would be an 

 inspiring prospect to any student of the feathered 

 fraternity. For many years one of the writer's most 

 cherished desires has been to investigate the bird 

 life of the Rocky Mountains. In the spring of 1899, 

 and again in 1901, fortune smiled upon him in the 

 most genial way, and — in a mental state akin to 

 rapture, it must be confessed — he found himself 

 rambling over the plains and mesas and through the 

 deep caiions, and clambering up the dizzy heights, 

 in search of winged rarities. 



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