1923 BIRDS OF THE SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS 17 



found by Swarth the latter half of June, 1903, also in Madera Canyon, where 

 several of the birds were seen. An adult male was shot July 29, 1918, by 

 Howell at 5,200 feet in Madera Canyon, and the following day a young one 

 with fully grown tail was taken. One was occasioiuiliy seen l)y us during the 

 wintei- of 1921 near Stone Cabin Canyon, where its roosting place and the 

 feathers of a Roadrunner were discovered. 



One was seen by Taylor at McCleary's Ranch (Nicholson's) about 7:30 

 A. M. on February 27, 1923, swooping through the mesquites after small birds. 



Buteo borealis calurus. Western Red-tailed Hawk 



A juvenile was taken by Nelson, July 8, 1884, at Gardner's Ranch; one 

 or two were seen by Swarth in June, 1903 ; a few were seen by Bailey in late 

 October, 1913; and one was seen by Howell, August 4, 1918, at about 6,000 

 feet in Madera Canyon. One or two Avere seen by us during the winter and 

 spring of 1920-1921, from 4,500 feet down, and in the Santa Cruz bottoms near 

 Continental, 2,900 feet, a pair was found, March 9, nesting in a cottonwood. 

 On April 21, the downy young were standing up in the nest calling shrilly for 

 their parents to feed them. 



At Rosemont (4,700 feet), a hawk supposed to be of this species was seen 

 hy Taylor, January 17, 1923; and at Gardner's Ranch. 5,200 feet, one was 

 seen ])y him on February 10, 1923, circling overhead. 



Buteo abbreviatus. Zone-tailed Hawk 



One was taken by Nelson in 1884, at Gardner's Ranch, and two by Ste- 

 phens in 1903, in Madera Canyon. Stephens mistook one that he saw trying to 

 catch minnows, for a Turkey Vulture, and Swarth says the resemblance "both 

 in style of coloration and manner of flight is so close that it is exceedingly 

 difficult to distinguish between the two." Our own experience fell in with 

 his, for when we were in camp on April 12, 1921, watching what we supposed 

 was a Vulture, we discovered with amazement a white tail band. Not only 

 the gray cloak of the under-wings but the characteristically beaked head and 

 tilting flight carried out the resemblance. Another of the Zone-tails was 

 seen April 23, 1921. 



It was interesting to remember that the famous Zone-tail eg^ of the Ben- 

 dire Smithsonian collection was taken in this region — at Old Fort Lowell — at 

 the time when Bendire was stationed there. The egg — it should perhaps be 

 said for those who have forgotten the episode — was carried in the Captain's 

 mouth from the nest, forty feet up in a cottonwood whence he discovered a 

 band of Apaches watching him, five miles on horseback with Apaches in pur- 

 suit, back to his camp, where it was extracted with both pain and difficulty. 

 The Apaches' trail, in the days of Geronimo and "the Apache Kid," led from 

 the White Mountains to Mexico, following along the east base of the Santa 

 Ritas and the Apaches had a lookout cave in a cliff above Nelson's camp in 

 1884, although, fortunately, he was there between raids. 



