130 BULLETIN 2 03, UNITE t) STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



But this magnificent forest did not long remain in its pristine 

 glory. When I was in Arizona with Frank Willard in 1922, we had 

 looked forward with keen anticipation to visiting the mesquite forest, 

 where he had told me that we should find a thick stand of big trees 

 covering a large area, and some wonderful bird life. We were dis- 

 appointed in the forest, for the Papago Indians had been cutting 

 down the larger trees unmercifully and had made a network of cart 

 roads all through it for hauling out the firewood. There were only a 

 few large trees left, more or less scattered, and between them many 

 open spaces in which were thickets of small mesquites and thorn or 

 patches of medium-sized mesquites and hackberries. But we were 

 not disappointed in the bird life, for here and in other parts of Pima 

 County, wherever there were mesquites, we found Lucy's warblers 

 really abundant and breeding. The forest fairly teemed with bird 

 life, from the graceful Mexican goshawks soaring overhead to the 

 Gambel's quails whistling on the ground. The constant cooing of the 

 white-winged doves was almost too monotonous, but the rich song of 

 the Arizona cardinal, mingled with the voices of the orioles, towhees, 

 wrens, and vireos made a delightful chorus, among which the sweet 

 song of Lucy's warbler was prominent. 



Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1914) writes, referring to the Colorado Val- 

 ley: "On the California side, both at Riverside Mountain and 

 above Blythe, Lucy warblers were numerous, and very closely confined 

 to the narrow belt of mesquite. The singing males, each representing 

 the forage area and nesting site of a pair, were spaced out very uni- 

 formly, so that an estimated strip of about 200 yards in length be- 

 longed to each. The birds foraged out to a limited extent from the 

 mesquites towards the river into the arrowweed and willows, and away 

 from the river at the mouths of washes into the ironwoods and palo 

 verdes. But the metropolis was always most emphatically the 

 mesquites." 



Nesting. — ^M. French Oilman (1909) had considerable experience 

 with the nesting habits of Lucy's warbler along the Gila River in 

 Arizona, of which he says : 



Four general types of nesting sites were noticed, in the following order of 

 frequency : in natural cavities, under loose bark, in woodpecker holes, and in 

 deserted Verdins' nests. Of 23 nests observed, 12 were in natural cavities, 4 

 under loose bark, 4 in woodpecker holes, and three in Verdins' nests. Natural 

 cavities were of various kinds. Some were where a limb had been broken off ; 

 others in the crack made by a large branch splitting from the trunk ; and again 

 a decayed spot furnisht a sufficient hollow to conceal the nest. In all cases the 

 site was in a sheltered or protected position ; that is, the trimk leaned enough 

 to shade the entrance from above. A mesquite tree was usually selected, tho 

 others were taken. Of the nests observed, 15 were in mesquites, 5 in palo verde, 

 2 in ironwood, and one in catsclaw. • • * 



