44 1- Mr. W. L. Sclatcr an tJie 



say, but ])erliaps some of the facts may be new to European 

 readers. 



The State of Colorado lies very near the centre of the 

 United States, but a little nearer to the Pacific than to the 

 Atlantic. Colorado SpriT}gs, which is almost in the middle 

 of the State, is about 750 miles from the head of the Gulf of 

 California, about 850 from Galveston (the nearest point on 

 the Gulf of Mexico), about 950 miles from San Francisco, 

 and about 1650 from New York. It is, therefore, one of the 

 most inland of all the States. It has an area of 103,900 

 square miles, or a little more than double that of England 

 and "Wales. Within this vast area the eastern, half consists 

 of open, bare, dry plains, where the country is flat or rolling, 

 and there is hardly any timber except along the river- 

 bottcms. The elevation of these plains (the prairies) lises 

 giaduallv from 3500 ft. at the Kansas border to 60C0 ft. at 

 the foot-hills of the Rockies. 



"West of the 105th meridian, and rising with extraordinary 

 abruptness from the plains, are the Rocky ^Mountains, which 

 in Colorado form a kind of knot, Mhence rivers radiate out 

 in all directions, finding their way to the sea through the 

 channels < f the Mississippi, the Rio Grande of Texa^, and the 

 Colorado River of Utah and Arizona. 



The Continental Divide, separating the waters of the 

 Atlantic Irom those of the Pacific, runs in a somewhat zig- 

 zag line through the centre of the State from north to south, 

 and along this line are to be found most of the higher peaks, 

 of which forty-four range between 14,030 and 14,500 ft. in 

 altitude. In this region are the great mountain parks, open 

 wide valleys rather bare of trees, situated at elevations of 

 from 7000 to 8000 ft. The chief of these are North and 

 South Parks, drained by the North and South Platte Rivers 

 on the eastern slope, Middle Park drained by the Grand 

 River on the western slope, and the San Luis Valley draining 

 into the Rio Grande River. 



The most recent and complete work on Colorado Birds is 

 that of Mr. W. W. Cooke, formerly on the staff of the 

 State Agricultural Experiment Station at Fort Collins, and 



