72 CAPTURE OF THE YUMA THRASHER 



LE CONTE'S Thrasher still bears off the palm for rarity, 

 evea iu competition with the uewly-fouiid H. bencUrii, 

 Though it has been known for abont a qnarter of a century, 

 only three or four specimens hav^e come to hand. The original 

 was taken at Fort Yuma, at the junction of the Gila with the 

 Colorado. Dr. J. G. Cooper states that he secured two near 

 Fort Mojave, along the route in the Colorado Valley to the San 

 Bernardino Mountains, where, however, he found them "rather 

 common" in thickets of low bushes. He discovered an empty 

 nest built in a yucca, like that of R. redivivus. In September, 

 1865, I had the pleasure of meeting with the bird myself, about 

 fifteen miles east of the Colorado River, at a point a little 

 above Fort Mojave, and I managed, not without difiSculty, to 

 secure a single individual. It was in excellent plumage, and, 

 having been killed with a touch of fine shot and preserved with 

 special care, made a very fine specimen. We had come through 

 the "Union Pass" of alow range of mountains, or high line of 

 bluffs, which flank the eastern bank of the river, and were prepar- 

 ing to make a "dry camp "in a sterile, cactus-ridden plain, which 

 stretches across toward the broken ground where Beale's Springs 

 are situated, when, in the dusk of the evening, this singular 

 whitish-looking bird caught my eye. Though I was not at the 

 moment in an enthusiastic frame of mind respecting ornithology, 

 the sight was enough to arouse what little energy a hard day's 

 march had not knocked out of me, and I started on what came 

 near being a wild-goose chase after the coveted prize. It is 

 bad enough to play the jack-rabbit among Arizona cactuses in 

 broad daylight, and to be obliged to skip about in the uncer- 

 tain glimmering of evening is discouraging in the extreme. 

 My bird had the best of it for awhile, and seemed to enjoy the 

 sport, as it fluttered from one cactus bush to another, with the 

 desultory yet rapid flight that is so confusing, and makes one 

 hesitate to risk a poor shot, in momentary expectation of getting 

 a better chance. At length, it dived into the recesses of a large 

 yucca, where it stood motionless just one instant too long. I 

 did not see it fall, and feared I had missed, till, on gaining the 

 spot, I found the body of the once sprightly and vivacious bird 

 hanging limp in a crevice of the thick fronds. As I smoothed 

 its disordered plumage, and strolled back to camp, I felt the 

 old-time glow which those who are in the secret know was not 

 entirely due to the exercise 1 had taken. 



