2 Till-: Wilson IU'lletin — Xo. 103 



panuchus on the side of the neck, ahhough these measure but 

 28mm., while on a cock Chicken of the same season they will 

 average 6omm., and 45mm. on the hens. 



BIRDS OBSERVED NEAR MINCO, CENTRAL 

 OKLAHOMA. 



BY ALEXANDER WETMORE. 



From May 23 to June 2, 1905, I was at Minco in central 

 Oklahoma devoting my attention to the study and collection 

 of the various forms of bird-life found. At that time the re- 

 gion was still known as Indian Territory and great stretches 

 of prairie had been newly broken. Thoug^h the country was 

 well settled there was still much land in its original condition, 

 and birds were very common. The period spent here cor- 

 responded with the end of migration and the beginning of 

 the breeding season. The notes given refer in the main to 

 breeding birds, concerning which there are few published 

 records from Oklahoma. 



The country in which I collected was diversified in its 

 character. A small stream known as Boggy Creek passed 

 near Minco ; there was a large slough nearby, and three 

 and one-half miles east was the South Canadian River. The 

 latter stream is often dry for months at a time, showing 

 merely an expanse of shifting sand that drives and drifts 

 with the winds. At this period, however, it contained running 

 water, and before the first of June flood water had carried 

 away bridges crossing near Minco and farther down at Tut- 

 tle. Willows and rushes bordered the slough, and thickets 

 and small tree growth followed the winding course of Boggy 

 Creek. Dense growths of wild plum were common, and 

 there were small groves in hollows on the rolling prairie. 

 Cottonwoods grew along the South Canadian River, but few 

 of them attained any great size. Fields in the river bottom 

 that had been cultivated at one time were grown with weeds, 

 while areas of unbroken prairie supported dense stands of 

 grasses, with rosin weeds at intervals oiTering outlooks for 

 the Grasshopper Sparrows. 



