]ui<ij;tin No. m. r. 



I heard the distant "Chebew," which is the distinctive note 

 of this bird, I could not doubt that we had a new species. In- 

 vestigation proved that a pair of these birds were soHcitous for 

 young, presumably well grown. Jones and I shot three times 

 without success, and then squandered the best part of an hour 

 chasing the provoking creatures from branch to stub and 

 from stub to boulder, around in the open woods. Never was 

 the range set at a certain tussock of grass but the bird made 

 off with a mocking wail a pace or two before the goal was 

 reached. Never w^as a snap shot attempted but the bird 

 dodged behind a tree as the gun was coming up. " Chebew, 

 chebew," and for aught I know those woods are still re-echo- 

 ing that doleful, aggravating .sound. 



MELLEN AXD THE COLOK.\DO RIVER. 



Arizona is certainly well named. Except for the pine 

 section about the San Fra cisco Mountains all we saw was 

 fearfully desolate. There was, how^ever, a genuine fascina- 

 tion to be felt in the clear-cut mountain ranges of the west. 

 For the most part absolutely bare, these intruders pierce the 

 expanse of level plain like the dorsal fins of some titanic sea 

 monster. Nature has not veiled her secrets here. He who 

 runs, even by rail, may read. The ash piles in this her dis- 

 heveled back yard look precisely as the}' might have looked 

 when first dumped down. Jagged outlines are the rules rather 

 than the exception in these volcanic ranges ; and the culminat- 

 ing point is reached in the "Needles," near the Colorado 

 River. Altho twelve miles distant from the Santa Fe bridge 

 they seem but a step, so simple and so clear cut are they. 

 Nothing but oil can do them justice, for half their charm lies 

 in their marvellous coloring, which both in intensity and deli- 

 cacy of shading almost surpasses belief. 



Our last ornithological stop was made here at Mellen, by 

 the Santa Fe bridge over the Rio Colorado. We found the 

 Colorado a much more formidable stream than the Rio Orande. 

 Its course is very changeable. Just now it is engaged in tear- 

 ing down the east bank for the mile or so above the station, 

 and the crash of great chunks of alluvium as they fell into 

 the river's jaws was a constant feature of our stay. And 



