1923 BIRDS OF THE SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS 29 



June 10, 1884, in the mountains above Gardner's Ranch, and July 9, 1884, at 

 Gardner's Ranch. Found by Swarth in June, 1903, "ahjng the canyon 

 streams," and taken by Howell at Continental, August 15, 1918, where they 

 were abundant, "both singly and in family parties." Two were noted by us 

 on March 28, 1921, one in the mesquites above camp and the other in the 

 bottom of a hot, dry gulch of the mes((uite slope protected from the heavy 

 wind. On April 6, one was secured and its stomach found to contain mainly 

 beetles. 



Myiarchus lawrencei olivascens. Olivaceous Flycatcher 



Discovered by Stephens in 1881 in Madera Canyon, it was added to our 

 fauna by Brewster, soon afterward. It was "apparently not uncommon, but 

 very local." Adults were taken May 12-17, 1881, and a female shot on May 

 17, was laying. A young in first plumage was taken July 15, 1881. A series 

 of twenty-nine adults was taken by Nelson, June 8-July 21, 1884, at Gardner's 

 Ranch. He says it Avas "nesting in hollow dead branches and knot holes in 

 the live oaks above Gardner's Ranch. The end of a snake skin hung out of 

 the entrance to one nest cavity near our camp." It was supposed to be fairly 

 abundant by Swarth in the latter half of June, 1903, the note being heard 

 "from some wooded hillside far more often than the birds themselves were 

 seen." Two adults were secui'ed by Howell July 31 and August 3, 1918, in Ma- 

 dera Canyon. "No others were seen." Some were "taken among the oaks 

 of tlie hillsides and some close to the stream, all well down in Upper Sonoran." 



Sayornis sayus. Say Phoebe 



A few were seen by Swarth in June, 1903, along the base of the moun- 

 tains. One was seen by us on December 4, 1920, and January 1, 1921, on a 

 grass-plot fence of the Santa Rita Range Reserve near Huerfano Butte. An- 

 other was seen occasionally during the winter a little above 4,000 feet, near 

 an abandoned mining shaft where it could find water and a safe roosting 

 place. When the mistletoe bloomed an abundant supply of insects was also 

 to be found close at hand. In the Santa Cruz bottoms near Continental, where 

 llowell had seen one on August 17, 1918, we saw a number of the birds on a 

 barbed wire fence in February and March. 



At Rosemont (5,000 feet), on January 15, 1923, Taylor heard one near an 

 old mine building and in the evening saw one "after flies under the porch roof 

 at the ranger station office."' On January 16, he noted one "in Barrel Can- 

 yon, perching in low bushes in an open place. ' ' At Gardner 's Ranch, Febru- 

 ary 10, he saw two or three "in the open clearing about the ranch houses and 

 corrals." 



Sayornis nigricans. Black Phoebe 



A fully grown young one was taken by Howell, July 29, and an adult, 

 August 10, 1918, both at 5,000 feet. One was seen by us on February 6, 1921, 



