54 Proceediiiis of the 



shore. When the hitter situations are available, however, 

 the birds by preference make use of them. Other sandy 

 wastes, artificial in their primal origin but presenting no 

 features not already shown by natural formations, are the 

 plowed fire-guards. These the wind frequently seizes 

 upon and converts in part into blowouts — the remainder 

 are mere strips of bare sand like the numerous denuded 

 areas on the hills which have been hollowed out hardly 

 enough to be called true blowouts. These places are fre- 

 quented by the Sennett Nighthawk, which bird is char- 

 acteristic of the habitat, rarel.y if at all breeding in the 

 valley although commonly seen there in its crepuscular 

 flights. 



67/ r;//7/;^n'.— Shrubbery of various kinds dots the hills in 

 places, but in many of the deeper hollows where the snow 

 drifts pile up in winter in the shelter of the northwest 

 wall and there furnish a greater supply of moisture than 

 elsewhere in the spring, the result has been to produce a 

 heavier growth of vegetation in that particular portion 

 of the valley. The plants which ordinarily form these 

 pockets are several. The low-growing New Jersey Tea 

 {Ccanothus amcricaiiiisj. Wolfberry (SyinpJwricarpos oc- 

 cidcntalis) and Wild Rose (Rosa arkansaiiaj occur in 

 beds which shelter the Western Field Sparrow. Wild 

 Plum (Primus americanu) and Western Choke Cherry (P. 

 meianocarpa) often form dense thickets which are uti- 

 lized by the Western Blue Grosbeaks. Hack berry (Celtis 

 occidentalis) and Ash (Fraxinus laticcolafa) are of fre- 

 quent occurrence, sometimes in such quantity as to war- 

 rant the application of the name grove. The Hackberry 

 furnishes nesting sites for the Swainson Hawk and Great 

 Blue Heron and probably also the Arkansas Kingbird. 

 The only ]\Iarsh Hawk nest discovered w^as in the shelter 

 of one of the beds of Syuiphoricaypos, but it is probable 

 that a heavy growth of tall grass would have answered 

 the purpose just as well. 



Wet places. — No permanently moist valleys or sloughs are 

 present among the hills near the Reserve and hence no 

 notes were made concerning the bird population of such 

 places. IMoist spots in the neighborhood of stock wind- 

 mills exert an influence, at least on the insect life of the 

 place but they are of such small size as to have little effect 



