i886.] Mearns on Birds of Ariz07ia. 67 



miles, and were now within a few days' march of home. Few 

 trees had rested our eyes from the ghire of the tropical sun, or 

 had shielded us from the fervid heat of its piercing ra_vs, upon 

 the scorched desert wilderness that we had traversed. Here 

 was shade, and the sweet sound of a running stream, upon whose 

 margin a handsome nosegay might have been easil}' plucked. 

 Where could a traveller find a more pleasant resting-place .f* 

 Soon 'Daisy' was munching sweet herbage upon the shore, and 

 perchatice was thinking of the good barley soon to be enjoyed in 

 her snug stall in the Qiuirterinaster's corral at Fort Verde, 

 whilst my own thoughts had wandered to very nearl}' the same 

 locality, when both were interrupted by the shrill whistle of a 

 Hawk that came gliding towards me through the dark shadows 

 of the dense foliage. A quick shot brought the bird to my feet. 

 I immediately mounted my horse, intent upon discovering the 

 location of the domicile of the Zone-tailed Hawks, whose haunts 

 I had unwittingly invaded ; crossing the stream I rode a little 

 distance upon the opposite side and, dismounting, scanned every 

 tree closely in quest of the nest. I was not long in discovering 

 a bulky nest, fixed in the fork of a large cottonwood branch, 

 across the stream, at an elevation of about twenty-five feet, and 

 the female parent standing upon it. She gave a loud whistle and 

 came skimming towards me, and was also shot. The nest was 

 coarsely built of rather large sticks, with considerable concavity, 

 lined with a few cottonwood leaves only, and contained a single 

 egg, of a rounded-oval shape, slightly smaller at one end, in color 

 clear bluish white, immaculate, and measuring 55 X 43 mm. On 

 dissecting the female parent. I discovered that two would have 

 been the full complement for this pair. 



The morning following the day on which the nest just described 

 was discovered found me encamped on the Agua Fria. The 

 canon through which this stream flows, below Swilling's Ranch, 

 is one of the prettiest places I have seen in Arizona. As our 

 march was to be a short one, there was no necessity for haste, 

 and at any rate I could not resist the temptation to follow this 

 enticing stream, which I did, for a distance of about two miles. 

 The stream is here quite large, flowing over an even bed of 

 glittering sand for a mile, occasionally dividing to join lower 

 down, enclosing in the loop a grove of tall cottonwoods, edged 

 with a growth of smaller willows, and fringed with arrow wood 

 and vines. 



