ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AND- 



OOLOGIST. 



iSl.OO per 

 Anniim. 



PUBLISHED BY FRANK B. AVEBSTEU. 



Established, March, 18T5. 



Single Copy 

 10 cents. 



Vol. XIV. 



BOSTON, MASS., NOVEMBER, 1889. 



No. II. 



Overland Journey — Texas to the 

 Pacific. 



The range and niijiiation of l)ir(1s is always 

 an interestiuo' topic. In an overland journey 

 from the (iulf of Mexico to the Pacific, re- 

 cently, a limited opportunity was ottered to 

 make notes, of which I gladly availed myself. 

 To be sure, looking from a car window is a 

 very unsatisfactory way to get details, yet, in 

 this way. I saw much of bird life that in- 

 terested me. Texas being my native state, I 

 paid very little attention to its feathered in- 

 habitants, further than to note some rare 

 specimen or odduess in plumage. But as I 

 passed from Texas into New Mexico I men- 

 tally resolved to note the range of our most 

 common birds, as far as it was possible. New 

 Mexico being extremely barren seemed to 

 offer but little iuducoment even to the 

 Ground Sparrow, yet 1 noted them in num- 

 bers, also the Xiglitliawk. and in tlie liigher 

 lands, where a little timber existed at the 

 base of the mountains, the Red-winged Black- 

 bii'd seemed supremely happy. The cacti, 

 which abound, seemed to teem with Mourn- 

 ing Doves, and I concluded that there was 

 more to New Mexico than its face indicated. 



As the mountains of Colorado are entered, 

 and an ascent commenced, bird life grows 

 less and less. As the train dashed into a 

 wooded ravine I noted with curiosity and pleas- 

 ure the fiist Magpie that I had ever seen on 

 its native heath. It deserted its place with 

 reluctance and settled a few moments after 

 and began swaying its body and ruffling its 

 feathers with characteristic impudence. Here, 

 too, I noticed a great flock of Crows passing- 

 through the stunted timber. After the moun- 

 tains were passed, and Fishers, Greys, and 

 Pikes Peaks, witli tlieir snow clad summits, 

 were being admired, I again noted the Field 

 Sparrow, a single pair, running over the dreary 



prairie. Nothing further was noted until 

 Manitou Junction was passed, where, in the 

 midst of a rain and thunder storm 1 noted a 

 large flock of Mourning Doves, and then all 

 indications of feathered life ceased. That even- 

 ing Denver was reached, and for the time 

 being, birds were forgotten, not absolutely, for 

 I remembered that as I passed the spurs of 

 the Rocky Mountains, and gazed into their 

 solitude, a great longing came over me, a 

 longing to wander into their most secret 

 deptlis, and fathom the mysteries of feathered 

 existence there. I well knew that although 

 nothing was to l)e seen, comparatively, along 

 an iron highway there was much in the moun- 

 tains and their valleys. Birds had their homes 

 there. Birds whose acquaintance I liad only 

 made through the medium of l)ooks. and I 

 longed for a personal interview. 



I left Denver bound for Portland, Oregon, in 

 the morning, and what a blight, sunsliiny 

 morning it was. Behind, the Rocky Moun- 

 tains presented a majestic appearance, the 

 sunlight glancing on their sides assisted 

 many exqui.site tints to mingle. They gradu- 

 ally grew less and less distinct, till finally a pur- 

 ple haze on the horizon enclosed them in its 

 grasp. Before, was a prairie, broken now 

 and then by a town enclosed in a growth of 

 Cottonwood trees and immense wheat fields. 

 Irrigation has done it all, and the birds have 

 kept pace with the march of civilization. 

 There were clouds of Red-wing Blackbirds; 

 and Grackles, Meadow I.arks, Field and 

 Song Sparrows served to enliven the land- 

 scape: and rest assured tliat the caw of the 

 Crow broke the stillness. The prairie land 

 lying between the reclaimed fertile spots pre- 

 sents to the eye nothing but sage grass. Oc- 

 casionally a Road-runner would be seen deftly 

 edging its way through — they and a few 

 Meadow Larks, with their cheery song.s, were 

 all that broke the solitude. After passing 



Copyright. 1883, by Fraxk B. Webstek. 



