106 The W'h.son Bulletin — No. 57. 



Doves and Meadowlarks were abundant, while Lark I'untings, 

 a half dozen at a time, rose into the air antl sang tlieir breezy 

 songs as they dropped back to the earth on a long slant, re- 

 minding one forcibly of the Bobolinks in moist meadows just 

 east of Boulder — indeed, these Buntings are commonly called 

 Bobolinks by people who are not observant. On these same 

 mesas Lark Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows and Desert Horned 

 Larks crouched on the ground, concealed by the blending of 

 their colors with the dry mesa grasses, testing our ability to 

 distinguish them from each other as they darted from almost 

 beneath our feet, the tail being the chief distinguishing char- 

 acter in receding flight. Western Nighthawks, which at twi- 

 light pursued their zigzag courses in quest of insects, at noon- 

 tide were flushed from among the pebbles of the mesas where 

 they remained invisible until disclosed by sudden flight, and 

 their eggs were difficult to see even when the bird left them 

 within a few feet of us. In the artificial groves surrounding 

 "ranches," as every out-of-town habitation is called in Colo- 

 rado, were found Robins, Yellow Warblers, House Finches, 

 English Sparrows and other birds which haunt the streets of 

 the towns. Wherever there was swampy ground Red-winged 

 Blackbirds congregated, with occasionally a few Yellow- 

 beads. In the pastures Cowbirds followed the cattle as they 

 were once wont to follow the bison in the same region. In 

 woods and brushy patches which line the streams as they break 

 from the mountains into the valley Bullock Orioles called 

 through the treetops, Catbirds, Spurred Towhees and Green- 

 tailed Towhees flitted through the shrubbery and the notes of 

 the Long-tailed Chat and . Western Yellow-throat frequently 

 greeted our ears. By watching diligently we could sonie- 

 tinies obtain a tantalizing glimpse of the latter, and the Chat 

 regaled us with weird and plaintive notes throughout the night 

 when we camped near his nesting site. Further out in the 

 irrigated valley, the larger trees along roadsides and ditch 

 banks harbored Red-shafted and Yellow-shafted Flickers and 

 Red-headed Woodpeckers. Lazuli Buntings sang to us from 

 telephone wires, upon which balanced Barn and Cliffy Swal- 

 lows in regular rows so spaced as to barely permit a good 

 spread of wing as they took flight. Crows, which have nearly 



