THE SEA AND THE DESERT 203 



many of the cat-claw thickets, while cactus-wrens, 

 Palmer's and crissal thrashers were more per- 

 ceptible to the ear than to the eye in every patch 

 of cholla. 



Clumps of cholla also offered refuge to the 

 chaparral-cocks, to covies of Gamble s quail, and 

 were favorite nesting places for thrashers, cactus- 

 wrens, and road-runners. The mourning dove, 

 the white-winged dove, and the ground dove were 

 the noticeable pigeons. Kingfishers, while not 

 abundant, were frequently discovered on the 

 river. Gairdner's woodpecker was uncommon, 

 and the Texan woodpecker, the Gila woodpecker, 

 and red-shafted flicker were numerous. 



At dusk the little whippoorwill mentioned as 

 occurring along the road could always be seen 

 and heard, and a little earlier in the day many 

 Texan night-hawks circled the air. The white- 

 winged blackbird, the meadow-lark, and Brewer's 

 blackbird were all common. The house-finch, 

 the prototype of our purple finch, was one of the 

 familiar sparrows, rivalled by the Arkansas gold- 

 finch. The black-throated sparrow and the 

 desert song sparrow bred in the vicinity, and 

 Lincoln's sparrow was met with as a migrant, 

 while the lark-finch was a conspicuous member 

 of the sparrow population. Cooper's tanager, the 

 cliff swallow, and the western warbling vireo 

 about completed the summary in a general way. 



