<I lU'LLKTIN No. ;{:*>. 



dirty ! if anything it is a little dirtier than the Missouri — 

 and that is enough said. 



We had barely time to force our way through the dense 

 willows of the lower or alluvium level, and emerge on the 

 acacia flat above, before dark. It was time enough, how- 

 ever, to completely turn our heads with the prospect of birds. 

 After a swim we lay down at the edge of the third, or desert, 

 level ; but not, as it proved, to sleep. The moon was too high 

 and the air was too hot and the mosquitoes were too numer- 

 ous. Finally we retired further into the desert and there, 

 wrapped in the soft mantle of the sky, we slept. 



From 4:00 A. M. until 8:00 it was "birds," and from then 

 till 7:00 P. M., when we boarded the tardy west-bound train 

 it was heat. The place certainly abounded in birds, but the 

 heat, after eight o'clock, put an effective quietus on man and 

 bird. The daj^'s work was done. 



The willow flats were the haunts of such birds as^he 

 Yellow Warbler, Bullock's Oriole, Traill's Flycatcher, and the 

 Long-tailed Chat ; while the characteristic birds of the acacia 

 level were the Gambel's Partridge and the Verdin. The Par- 

 tridge is easil}' the most abundant of all birds in this region. 

 Altho very secretive ( we were not able to secure a specimen) 

 they piped from every bush and scurried from every brush 

 heap. 



The Verdins are not by nature obtrusive, but some idea of 

 their numbers can be gathered from the fact that nearly every 

 other clump of acacia contained a nest. These nests are balls 

 of twigs clustered, without attempt at concealment, about 

 some lower limb, at a height of from four to eight feet. The 

 structure is quite compact, entered through a hole in the side, 

 and always warmly and softly lined. Altho a dozen or so 

 were examined none were found occupied at this time (July 

 .")th. ) 



Truth to tell we did not do much bird study here. We 

 shot at .sight and identified hastily, and then succumbed to the 

 heat. Never had we seen the like before. After lolling under 

 the willows of the river bottom and voting them insufferably 

 hot, we sought the shelter afforded by the railroad water-tank, 

 and where the temperature was just appreciably mitigated by 

 the dripping waters. The air was literallj- a blast from a fur- 



