May 1888.] 



AOT) OOLOGIST. 



71 



in rear of the luilUary liospital here, the inside 

 nest belnj; composed of coarse straw, excelsior 

 shavings, wliich liad been used for padcinj; 

 medical stores, and cotton batting, fi-om the 

 broken leg of a soldier, which had beenthi-own 

 out. The average number of eggs is three, of- 

 ten four. 1 liave never seen as many as live. 

 They rear two and sometimes (bree broods. 

 Haiige up to 11,.")00 feet in summer. 



4. Orcdscitplf's montaniix (Towns.), Haird. 

 Sage Thrasher. Kare in this county, and 

 ranges high up to 13,000 feet during suuuner, 

 have not found its nest here. Conimon through 

 tlie mountains to the north. 



5. Milling p(i!;iiil(iltu.i (l.'mn.), Boio. Mocking 

 Bird. I received five young birds in "SG, taken 

 ten miles south of here on the Ute reservation, 

 anil I have seen the bird there since. It is quite 

 common a little farther south (in Xew Mexico), 

 but I nmst record it as rare this side of tile 

 line. 



6. Gali'uspoptex nira/ininxh (]Ann.) Caban. Vt\t 

 Bird. Rare. Two jiair only liave I noted, as this 

 seems to be its limit as to vertical range. These 

 pairs build their nest wliere I could not find 

 them, and it was only after the leaves liad fal- 

 len and the snow was on the ground that J 

 fouiKl one of them. It was in tangled brush so 

 thick that I hail dilliculty in reaching it even 

 then. 



7. Cinriux iiii'.i-irniiKs (Swains). American 

 Water Ouzel. Common in spring and summer 

 in the mountains, wandering down to COOO feet 

 in winter, and breeds as high as 12.000 feet. It 

 even reaches highest altitudes after the young 

 take wing. So much has been written about 

 this beautiful bii-d that it would seem super- 

 fluous to say more, still, in spite of this, its 

 nest is considered a treasure when found. 



8. Sialifi mi'xii-anns (Swains). f'alifnniian 

 Bluebird. Apparently rare, Itiit is fniinil and 

 arrives somewhat later than the next uirb which 

 it associates until it lirecds. Nesting habits 

 similai'. but it keeps to the pine gulches and 

 does not as yet build about houses, l)ut slicks 

 to holes and ci-evices in decayed trees. Found 

 one nest between the trunk and a huge 

 piece of bark, wliich seemed as if it would fall 

 at any moment. Kggs were five in number. 



y. SiitUit (irticn (.Swains). Rocky Mountain 

 Bluebird. Arrives in large numbers in Kebrii- 

 ary and March, and during warm waves in win- 

 ter it is not an uncommon sight to see large 

 flocks upon the mesas. It often mates and 

 connnences to bnild in March, when a severe 

 snow storm will again gather them in flocks, 

 and they disappear again, so that the appear- 



ance of the bluebirds Is not a sure sign of 

 spring in this locality at least. They raise two 

 and three broods a year, and is our most common 

 bird. It will build its nest anywhere, even in 

 the old stove-pipes in deserted ranches. Under 

 the porch of the band ipiartei's I saw six 

 nests, none of tlieni being a foot apart. Itanges 

 ui> to 12,000 fiiet. 



10. Mi/iailfntes taicnsi'mU (And.), Caban. 

 Townsend's Solitaire. An abundant bird among 

 isolated pine groves, and breeds up to 10,500 

 feet. It has a very pretty song, a low warble, 

 which is moie like the robin's song, only more 

 subdued, and sounds as if from a distance it 

 prefers pinions to other pines, jji-obably because 

 they do not grow so high, and it likes to sit on 

 the topmost branch to sing, and it does not 

 like a high perch. Pinion groves, growing 

 from 10 to 15 feet in height, are its favorite 

 places, and especially if this is near the edge of 

 a rocky-sided mesa. Among the rocks it mu-st 

 breed, although I have not as yet found its 

 nest. Jlr. T. Howard Tripp of Ilinvardsville, 

 (^olorado, found a nest .July 9th, at 10,500 feet, 

 cont.-iining four eggs. It was in a cranny in a 

 liank. Incubation Just begun. I am sorry I 

 have not received his description of nest and 

 eggs in time to insert here, l)ul will do so fur- 

 ther on. 



11. /iii/ii/iis nili'iidiila (I.inn.), lacht. Ruby- 

 crowned K'inglet. (Joujinim dui'ing the migra- 

 tions, liiif lireeds sparingly from 7000 up to 

 11.000 feet. 1 have not taken its eggs, but Mr. 

 Drew has in San .Tuan County, and as I have 

 seen it from the last of May to August, it no 

 doid)t bleeds. The nest spoken of above was 

 placed in the uppermost liranches of a spruce, 

 about thirty feet from the ground, in one of 

 these dark masses where the corn grows thick- 

 est, and where it would be imposible to .see your 

 bal . were it there. The nest was loosely placed 

 among the outer twigs, being partially pens- 

 ile, and was cumposed of bits of fine bark ex- 

 ternally, and within of silk-weed shreds, mo.ss, 

 spiders silk and feathers, all matted together in 

 a compact m:inner and lined with wool. It con- 

 tained four young and an addled egg, the latter 

 measuring .014 x .012 mm., white. A descrip- 

 tion of the nestling ]iluinage I will keep for 

 future publication. 



12. Jii'fpiliis scilri/jxi (Licht). Golden-crowned 

 Kinglet. Rare, only three specimens observed. 

 Winters in New .Mexico. Reaches 11,000 feet, 



13. LiijihaphriHcs itwrnatus (Gamb.). Cass. 

 Plain Titmouse. Not (Simmon up to 8,500 feet 

 where it lireeds. I observed a pair in a pinion 

 grove, which no doiibt bad a nest in Hie vicin- 



