Vol. XX1 1 Snodgrass, La7id Birds of Central Washington. 225 



brush here is larger, however, and growing with it is considerable 

 bunch-grass, so that this region does not look quite so desolate as 

 the Connell district. Twelve miles west of Connell on the road 

 to White Blufifs Ferry — a distance of nearly thirty miles — there 

 is a spring located in a deep coulee. This is the only water to be 

 had until one gets to the Columbia River. West of this spring 

 the country is covered with sand that has drifted east from the 

 river, and which has buried and obliterated almost every plant 

 form except what sage-brush has been able to continually push up 

 through it. The sand becomes deeper as one approaches the 

 river, but several miles inland it has drifted up into great dunes. 

 The sand, together with the lack of water, makes a journey across 

 this region an extremely hard one on horses. Bird and insect life 

 is almost absent. Occasionally one meets with a few Horned 

 Larks or Sage Sparrows and now and then a Meadowlark. 

 Rather frequently the Pigmy Horned Toad {P/irynosoma doug- 

 lassii) and a small lizard {Sceloporus graciosus) are seen. Near 

 the Columbia also another lizard ( Uta stansburiana) occurs. 



Along the banks of the Columbia at White Bluffs there is no 

 more fertility than farther inland. A few scattered willows grow 

 close to the water. Birds, however, are more abundant. Besides 

 the Sage Sparrows, Horned Larks, and Meadowlarks, there occur 

 here Sage Hens in abundance, Mourning Doves, Sparrow Hawks, 

 a few Burrowing Owls, many Magpies, numerous Nighthawks, a 

 few Kingbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds, Brewer's Blackbirds, 

 many Shrikes, and a few Rock Wrens along the cliffs facing the 

 river. 



Yakima County is more diversified. High hills form the divide 

 between the Columbia and Yakima Rivers. These hills contain 

 almost no water and support the ordinary desert fauna and flora. 

 The narrow Yakima valley, however, is very fertile and, in the 

 neighborhood of North Yakima, the country is covered with large 

 groves of trees — principally cottonwoods. This region is also 

 extensively irrigated and, hence, presents a striking contrast to the 

 region east of it. Although there is a rich bird-fauna here, one 

 is surprised at the absence of a number of common birds. For 

 example, during nine days of collecting, from July 4 to 13, we 

 saw no Owls, Horned Larks, Orioles, Vesper Sparrows, Tanagers, 



