LAZULI BUNTING 115 



dental and that this bunting is actually extending its breeding range 

 eastward." 



Spring. — The northward migration of the species from Mexico 

 begins the latter part of March and reaches the United States on 

 a broad front from the San Antonio region of Texas to the Pacific 

 coast in April. It appears first in the coastal region of southern 

 California where it has been recorded frequently the first week of 

 April. In Arizona it first appears about the second week of April 

 and becomes common later in the month. In Texas it arrives a week 

 to 10 days later. In Arizona, where it is a common migrant but 

 a rare breeder, the migration wave is more readily observed and 

 appears to last 5 to 6 weeks until the latter part of May. It is prob- 

 ably of similar duration in other areas. 



R. L. Wisner (1952) observed a case of offshore migration from 

 a boat about 15 miles out from San Diego. At approximately 10:30 

 a.m. "two Lazuli Buntings * * *, a male and a female, made a visit 

 aboard. They perched on the rail only and allowed no one to approach 

 them. When the vessel attained full speed a few minutes later the 

 birds left and made no attempt to follow." This occurred on May 11, 

 1951, after a period of mild weather, so one must judge that the birds 

 were "at sea of their own volition." Lazuli buntings have also been 

 observed as migrants on Santa Catalina and Santa Cruz Islands in 

 April. Farther to the north they have been recorded as migrants 

 on the Farallones on the first of June. 



In the San Francisco Bay area they usually appear the last week of 

 April. In the Sierras and the mountains to the east they arrive later, 

 about the middle of May. They usually reach the western part of 

 Oregon by the very last of April, although there is one unusual record 

 at Thurston, Oreg. for March 13. East of the Cascades their arrival 

 is later, about the second week in May. The same dates apply to 

 western and eastern Washington. Mid-May is the average arrival 

 date for the Great Basin States, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming, 

 but it is late May before they arrive in Montana and Colorado. The 

 migration wave extends east to Lincoln, Nebr., where three were 

 recorded on May 6, 10, and 19. The late May records for southeastern 

 South Dakota are probably also of migrants. 



As is to be expected on migration, the lazuli bunting is not infre- 

 quently found in habitats other than where it would breed, as in the 

 mesquite of the Mohave Desert or the dry hillside chaparral of the 

 central valley of California. At Twentynine Palms, Miss F. Carter 

 (1937) found them regularly associated with chipping sparrows; 

 they flew up in mixed flocks from the deep grass adjacent to the 

 springs of this region. 



646-737 — 68— pt. 1 10 



