Aug. 



1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



115 



blue, ilottotl tliii'kly iirimiHl ncai' llic iiiiddlo, 

 but a liltlo ritwanl the larger oiui, with dark 

 l)i(>\vii arid |iuipl(' spots and dashes. The 

 whole of the leiiiaiiKh'f is eoveied sparingly 

 with small spots of saim^ eolor. The eggs 

 were quite fresh. The female was quite re- 

 luetaiU to leave the nest, so I went to cainp 

 which was hut a few yards away and got luy 

 gun and when I returned she had again t.iken 

 possession. I then rehietantly shot her to 

 leave no doubts as to the identitic.itioii of the 



A List of Some Birds of La Plata 

 County, Col., with Annotations. 



liv c. V. >tni;i;is()N. 



f(.'onlinu('(l.) 



84. Vohiptcs (inratux mcxinmns (Sw.). Ridgw. 

 Kcd-shafted Flicker. Common,' breeds every- 

 where up to 12,1)1)0 feet. All our flickers are 

 true mexiranus and I am glad to be iti a country 

 where hi/briilus is not found ; in Wyoming I 

 nearly became demented arr.iiiging my numer- 

 ous specimens tak<'n there, and it is no wonder 

 1 feel relieved now that lu) such work has to be 

 done on this species here. 



85. Ce.ryJc alcijon (Ivinn.). Boie. Helted King- 

 fisher. Kare, a few pair seen along the Rio las 

 Animas and Rio La Plata, liave not seen it 

 higher than 8, ")()(). .although Mr. Diew (inotes 

 it at a tliousand feet higher. The fact is, its 

 food supply is rather short on the l>"io La Plata 

 and judging from my experience with that 

 river it would take all the fish for many miles 

 to supply a pair ami its brood of young. Trout 

 are scarce, also a small minnow which are about 

 the only fisli found in the stream. 



86. Gi;(/vj)cc>jx calif iirniimns (Less.). Baird. 

 Road-runner. Rare, but a few found this side 

 of the Xew Mexico line on tlie Ute reservation 

 which I include in this list; does not go above 

 .5001) feet. 



87. A»i(i amcrinniiiK {'!^\v\t\i ), Sharpe. Amer- 

 ican Long-eared Owl. Our most counnon owl, 

 breeds up to lO.OUO feet in nests of its own, but 

 more often in old .Magjiie's nests, the domes of 

 which have decayed and fallen in. The large 

 number of such nests make it i|nitc an induce- 

 ment wliich this species cannot resist. Sets of 

 three eggs are most often found but four are 

 also laid; have not foumi more. 



88. Asio ancipitriiiiis (I'all.), Newton. Short- 

 eared Owl. Ilaic. 1 liiivc taken hot oiii^ speci- 



men, in Feb., 1887; it was on a large fiat mesa 

 to the west of Ft. Lewis. 



89. Scops asiomaccaUi {Cass.), JIM gw. Rocky 

 Mountain Screech Owl. Common, breeds in 

 hollow pinons, took three young and an addled 

 egg fr(mi a nest last .Mine. The birds soon be- 

 came great pets, one especially would fly about 

 wherever 1 went and would perch upon my 

 shoulder while writing and quietly doze; when 

 1 was thr<ingh it woke up and was all ready for 

 a frolic. It finally disappeared from its coop 

 and I knew not what became of it. The other 

 two, after a long series of adventures with both 

 cats and dogs, passed away; one meeting a vio- 

 lent death at the hands of my bird-catching tom 

 cat, the other being drowned in a water ban-el. 



'JO. JJitlio tTinjiiddima niihaixtiras (Ily.), Ridg. 

 Western Horned Owl. Not api)arently com- 

 mon, have secured but five specimens and seen 

 two others, have not found its nest yet so have 

 been unable to take any ^•jihenom.enal sets." As 

 in}- "Bird invigorator" has run out perhaps I 

 may not be able to do so. Reaches 13,000 feet. 



91. Glnuciiliniii tpiomd Wagl. California Pig- 

 my Owl. Rare, found one nest and saw a sin- 

 gle specimen. The nest was in a Woodpecker's 

 bole in a large [line stub, contained three young 

 in .luue. Nestling plumage will l)e given later 

 on. 



!)2. Ai'sitliiu columharius (Linn.), Kaup. 

 Pigeon Hawk. Not at all common, breeds 

 sparingly, have taken one sot of five eggs, the 

 only nest I have been able to find. Goes lower 

 down in winter. 



93. Tinnunrulns sp<tnvrins (Liun.), \'i<'ill. 

 Sparrow Hawk. Abundant, breeding in old 

 flicker's holes, ranges to 12,000; arrives early 

 in April. 



1)4. Am'jiitcr eooperi Bouap. Cooper's Hawk. 

 Abundant, breeds in tall ]iines and on rocky 

 ledges, very common in the fall. 



9.5. Accqiitcr fuscus (Gmel.), Bp. Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk. Common, breeds abundantly 

 in heavy growths along the La Plata, generally 

 like A. americanns in old Magpie's nests. Eggs 

 from three to five. The set of five 1 took last 

 year are now in the Museum of the Worcester 

 (Mass.) Society of Natural History and dill'ers 

 from many sets taken, in having very small 

 spots instead of large blotches, lianges up to 

 9,500 feet. 



9fi. Balco hori'iiHs rahinis (Cass.), Itidgw. 

 Western Redtail. Counnon, breeds in the tall 

 pines of the gulches and in trees that put our 

 Xew England pines in the shade. One nest 

 which I found (from the ground) was in a tree 

 at least SO feet high and the trunk was as large 



