LOCAL AVIFAUN.E OF THE GREAT BASIN. 



ni9 



Woods of Coiiifera? foi-m Ijy far the g-reater part of tlio .sylva of the Great 

 Basin, and though differing somewhat in their character have mucli the 

 same bird-fauna wherever they exist, the only decided difference with 

 hicalit}' l)eing tlie rephicing of species of one side by representative forms 

 on the opposite side. On the Siei'ra Nevada these forests are nmcli more 

 extensive than anywhei'e to the eastward, and the growth far larger and 

 more dense, consisting chiefly of Pbitis po)tdci-o.sa, but with which are mixed 

 Abies grandis, A. menziesii, A. donyhmi, Libocedrus deciinriis, and perhaps 

 some other trees. Of these species, only the latter did not occur to the 

 eastward, wliere, on the higher ranges, as the East Humboldt, Wahsatch, 

 and Uintahs, Piuiis baJfouriaua, P. flexilis, Abies englemaimi, A. amabUis (f), 

 and Juniperus virginianus occurred as additional species. 



The birds peculiar to these dark woods are far less numerous than those 

 found only in the more open aud sunny groves of the river valleys, but eigh- 

 teen species being noted as peculiar to them, exclusive of those restricted to 

 one side of the Basin. The strictly pinicoline species are the following: — 



1. Cinclus mexicanus. Not arboreal. 



2. Regiilus calendula. 



3. Parus montanus. 



4. Sitta aculeata. 



5. Sitta cauadensis. 



6. Sitta pygmiEa. 



7. Certbia americana. 



8. Dendrieca audnboni. 



9. Pyraiiga ludoviciana. 



10. Loxia leucoptera. 

 IL Carpodaciis cassiui. 



12. Chrysomitris piuiis. 



13. Picicorvus columbiauus. 



14. Contopns borealis. 



15. Empidonax difficilis. 



16. Sphyrapicus thyroideus. 



17. Canace obscura. 



18. Bonasa umbelloides. 



The representative and peculiar species of the opposite mountain sys- 

 tems are as follows : — 



Representative species. 



Wahsatch and Uintahs. 



Sierra Nevada. 



1. Junco oregonus. 



2. Cyaoura frontalis. 



1. Turdus ustulatiis. 



2. Sphyrapicus ruber. 



3. Picus albolarvatus. 



1. Junco caniceps. 



2. Cyanura macrolopha. 

 Peculiar species.^ 



I [None.J 



' Of these species the two in italics are represented in the eastern ranges by closely 

 allied forms, T. swainsoni aud S. nuchalis, but they are not inhabitants of the pines, 

 the former being confined to the caiion shrubbery and the latter to the aspeu gro"*: . 



