50 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA. [No. 4 



about the middle of March they became more abundant, though not a 

 common bird at any time, and soon after the middle of the month were 

 already in pairs. Upon their first arival they were found mostly in the 

 live oaks near the base of the mountains, but the breeding- range seems 

 to lie between 5000 and 7500 feet. During the breeding season these 

 vireos were very quiet and inconspicuous, and were most easily over- 

 looked ; but after the middle of August they began to appear in con- 

 siderable numbers, and were more abundant at this time than at any 

 other. Specimens taken the middle" of August are in the midst of the 

 moult, but some secured the first week in September have nearly com- 

 pleted the change. Birds taken at this time are generally rather darker 

 and more olivaceous than spring specimens, with more greenish-yellow 

 on the edges of the wing and tail feathers. Aside from these seasonal 

 differences the series of specimens I secured here shows very ilttle 

 variation in color, and I took none which approach huttoni very closely; 

 but I have a male specimen of huttoni taken at Los Angeles on Decem- 

 ber 6th, 1898, which is almost indistinguishable from autumnal examples 

 of stcphensi; being quite as pale in coloration, but having rather more 

 greenish-yellow streakings on the sides and flanks than is the case with 

 that race. The bill is also of the larger size which distinguishes the 

 coast race. 



Vireo pusillus Coues. Least Vireo. 



This species must be of very rare occurrence in these mountains, 

 for the only occasion on which I met with it was on April 8, 1902, when 

 a single bird was seen, but not secured, in a live-oak at the base of the 

 movmtains. Along the San Pedro River it is a common migrant, and 

 breeds fairly abundantly in suitable places. 



Helminthophila luciae (Cooper). Lucy Warbler. 



From April 8th to 12th, 1902, I found this species in very limited 

 numbers, in company with virginiac, gittturalis and Intcscciis, in some 

 live-oaks at the mouth of the canyon I was camped in. This is the only 

 occasion on which I have found it in the Huachucas, though in the lower 

 valleys of- this region it is an exceedingly abundant summer resident. 

 Along the San Pedro River it breeds in great abundance, and O. W. 

 Howard and F. C. Willard have both informed me that in this region 

 the nest is frequently placed in some hole or depression in the steep 

 sides of the "washes" and "draws" which intersect the country draining 

 to the river. 



Helminthophila virginiae (Baird). Virginia Warbler. 



This species proved to be very abundant during the spring migra- 

 tion, particularly in the lower parts of the mountains ; but the nipst of 

 them seem to go farther north, and but few, compared with the numbers 

 seen in April and the early part of May, remained through the summer 

 to breed. The earliest arrival noted was on April loth and soon after 

 they were quite abundant, mostly in the oak region below 5000 feet, 

 remaining so throughout April and up to the first week in May. at which 

 time the migrating birds had about all passed on. All that were seen 

 after that I took to be breeding birds, for they gradually moved to a 

 higher altitude, (6000 to 8000 feet) and were nearly all in pairs. About 

 the middle of April. 1902, I found a few virginiae, together with other 

 migrating warblers, in the willows along the San Pedro River, some 

 fifteen miles from the mountains. Throughout the summer thev were 



