THIlJIl aNNUAI. MKirriNG 85 



with young-, but both resembled in structure and position the second 

 one found more than the first. 



I think tliat this bird is b}' far the most abundant sparrow of the 

 reg-ion excepting- possibly the Western Lark Sparrow, though this 

 species is contined almost exclusively to the Bad Lands, where, in 

 company with the Lark Bunting-, it nests on the ground under the 

 shelter of the small sage bushes which abound along- the dry water 

 courses. 



Brewer's Sparrow (SpizeUa brcweri). — ^The only place where this 

 sparrow was seen in the region was along the draws on the north 

 side of Indian Creek, where it was fairly abundant among- the sage 

 and greasewood. At the time of my second trip there, July 13, all 

 had finished their incubation and were busily engaged in supplying 

 their young w^ith the various kinds of small Avorms to be found in and 

 under the shrubs. One specimen was secured to make identification 

 positive. All the nests noted were in the small sag-es close to the 

 ground and constructed in a manner very similar to that of the Field 

 Sparrow. 



White-winged Junco {J unco aikeni}. — This is the first record for 

 Nebraska of the breeding of the White-winged Junco. Dr. Wolcott 

 and Mr. Gary first saw the birds in Warbonnet Canon soon after our 

 arrival, but they were not seen again till June 29, when I found a nest 

 with four nearly fledgeu young. I was working down a narrow gorge, 

 whose earth-strewn sides were thicklv overgrown with various kinds 

 of vines and shrubs, when a junco darted out from one of the sides 

 in front of me with a s-tartled twitter and disappeared around the 

 bend. Hastily reaching the spot where it flushed, I parted the vines 

 and discovered where a ledge of rocks extended about a foot beyond 

 the slope and the dirt had drifted down over it, making- a little cavity 

 under its sheltering roof. In this little nook was the nest witli four 

 young birds all able to fly, a fact which I soon discovered by their 

 hastily escaping from the other end and taking flight down the gulch. 

 Unfortunately I had no gun with me that day, as I was engaged in 

 taking' photographs, and when I returned the next day the whole family 

 had disappeared. 



Arctic Towhee (Piirilo maculatus arcticus). — Probably the most char- 

 acteristic bird of the canons is the Arctic Towhee. The bush-covered 

 cafion slopes seem fairly alive with them and as you proceed they 

 keep in advance, slipping in and out of the heaps of dead pine boughs, 

 jerking- their tails arid uttering their querulous note. 



On the morning- of June 5 Mr. Cary and I found a nest in a pile of 

 old pine boughs about twenty-five feet to one side of the tent. It -was 

 a typical nest of the Towhee, constructed of leaves, rootlets, and weed 

 stems, and contained five fresh eggs. On June 2G, while working down 

 Warbonnet Creek about a mile below the mouth of the canon, I founa 

 another bulky, clumsily-constructed nest in the top of a slender willow 



