Vol. XXI-j Bailey, Birds of the Upper Pecos. 349 



ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF THE 

 UPPER PECOS. 



BY FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY.^ 



In 1883 Mr. H. W. Henshaw and Mr. E. W. Nelson spent 

 three months in New Mexico, on the Upper Pecos River which 

 cuts through the southern end of the Rocky Mountains between 

 the desert valley of the Rio Grande on the west and the high 

 plains of the Rocky Mountain plateau on the east. Their camp, 

 which, as Mr. Henshaw says, was the focus of their operations, 

 was only a few miles north of a road that is now being made 

 across the mountains connecting Santa Fe and Las Vegas. The 

 bird notes taken during their stay were published in ' The Auk ' 

 under the title, 'List of Birds observed in Summer and Fall on 

 the Upper Pecos River, New Mexico,' ^ but as their observations 

 were restricted to an area of five square miles, more extended 

 work in the region was left, as Mr. Henshaw explains, for "the 

 labors of future investigators." 



While engaged in Biological Survey work last summer, Mr. 

 Bailey and I crossed from the Staked Plains to the southern end 

 of the Rocky Mountains and spent six weeks on the Pecos Forest 

 Reserve, following the Pecos Canon through the section covered 

 by Mr. Henshaw's notes (his camp was located at 7800 feet), 

 packing up the mountains to the actual sources of the river, and 

 climbing to the summits of Pecos Baldy, and the Truchas Peaks 

 which, at an altitude of over 13,300 feet, mark the vertical faunal 

 terminus of the region. As we entered the Pecos Canon from the 

 south on July 11, and after working up to the peaks left it again 

 on August 24, we did not see the later migrants recorded by 

 Mr. Henshaw, and since the bird work was only a part of the 

 general biological work to be done, we, in turn, had to leave much 

 to 'future investigators.' The species that we added to Mr. 

 Henshaw's list were mainly Upper Sonoran foothill birds or those 



1 Published with the permission of Dr. C. Hart Merriam, Chief of the 

 Biological Survey. 



•' ' The Auk, ' II, 1885, pp. 326-333 ! HI' 1886, pp. 73-80. 



