LOCAL AVIFAUN.E OP THE GREAT BASIN. 323 



Indeed, to realize how attractive the river-valleys must be to the feathered 

 tribe, one has but to cross the almost limitless desert on either side, with a 

 scorching sun overhead and little else than glaring, heated sand beneath 

 his feet, and after thus suffering all day come suddenly to the verge of 

 one of these lovely valleys, with the fields and groves of verdure close 

 by, while the refreshing breeze brings to the ear the rippling of cooling 

 waters and the glad voices of the birds ! The merry little Wood- Wrens 

 {Troglodytes parhnanni) gabble and chatter among the trunks and massive 

 branches of the old cotton-wood trees; black-and-orange orioles {Icterus 

 huUocki) and crimson-headed linnets {Carpodacus frontalis) whistle plaint- 

 ively or chant a cheerful ditty as they sport among the leafy branches, 

 while from the willows or the more open thickets is heard the mellow flute- 

 like song of the Black-headed Grosbeak {Hedymcles melanoccphalus). 



The birds most characteristic of the wooded river-valleys are the 

 following : — 



1. Sialia mexicana. 



2. Troglodytes parkinauui. 



3. Dendroeca restiva. 



4. Geothlypis trichas. 



5. Icteria lougicauda. 

 C. Myiodioctes pusillus. 



7. Tachycineta bicolor. 



8. Vireosylvia swaiasoni. 



9. Carpodacus frontalis. 



10. Chrysomitris tristis. 



11. Cyanospiza amcena. 



12. Pipilo oregonus. 



13. Icterus bullocki. 



6. Birds of the sage-hrush. — The term "sage-brush" is the western 

 vernacular for that shrubby growth which prevails over the valleys, mesas, 

 and desert mountain- slopes of the Great Basin to the utter exclusion of all 

 other vegetation, except in isolated and extremely restricted places. One 

 species, the "everlasting sage-brush" {Artemisia tridentata), composes by 

 far the larger part of that growth, "covering valleys and foot-hills in broad 

 stretches farther than the eye can reach, the growth never so dense as to 

 seriously obstract the way, but very uniform over large surfaces, very 

 rarely reaching to the saddle-height of a mule, and ordinarily but half that 



11. Pica hudsonica. 



15. Tyrannus caroliuensis. 



16. Tyranuus verticalis. 



17. Myiarchus ciuerascens. 



18. Contopus ricbardsoni. 



19. Empidonax pusillus. 



20. Coccyzus americanus. 



21. Nepboecetes boreal is. 



22. Chsetura vauxi. 



23. Otus wilsouianus. 

 21. Palco sparverius. 



25. Zenajdura caroliuensis. 



