356 



Bailey, Birds of the Upper Pecos. [!"'' 



LJuly 



Perisoreus canadensis capitalis. Rocky Mountain Jay. — Perisoreus 

 was common from ii,oooto ii,6oo feet. At ii,ooofeet a family of young 

 was found out of the nest on July 23, and on August 4 a full grown young 

 one was caught in a meat trap. Two old birds were also caught in traps 

 baited for martins and foxes, although the traps were partly covered up 

 in the daytime to protect the jays. At this camp the birds stopped only 

 as they went by and did not come within several rods of camp. When 

 we moved up to the foot of Pecos Baldy, how-ever, camping among the 

 dwarf spruces of the Hudsonian zone, the jays flocked around us, joining 

 us at meals with characteristic fearlessness. The only wild food that we 

 saw them eat was toadstool. On our wa^' down the mountains, August 

 17, we found Perisoreus as low as 10,800 feet, near the junction of the 

 Canadian and Transition zones. 



Corvus corax sinuatus. American Raven. — A family of ravens was 

 seen near Glorieta July.io, and another at the foot of Pecos Baldy, 11,600 

 feet, on July 23. Other ravens were seen flying over the peak. At our 

 11,000 foot camp sinuatus, like the jays and vultures, was attracted by the 

 line of meat baited traps, going so far as to spring some of them and take 

 the bait. 



Corvus americanus. Crow. — Although Mr. Henshaw thought the 

 Crows did not breed at this altitude, a few were seen on the Pecos near 

 El Macho, at 7200 feet, and on July 16 two or three families were noted 

 five or six miles above El Macho at about 7600 feet, squawking young 

 being led about by their parents. 



Nucifraga columbiana. Clarke Nutcracker. — At our Canadian 

 zone camp a few nutcrackers stopped in the treetops to inspect us in 

 passing, but at our Hudsonian camp they came familiarly for food with 

 the Rocky Mountain Jays. While not so tame as Perisoreus they would 

 come within two or three rods of us. They abounded at this level and 

 frequented the dwarf pines near timberline above us. One of the birds 

 was seen shooting down over the top of Pecos Baldy in characteristic 

 fashion. In the woods two of the nutcrackers were seen by Mr. Bailey 

 running up and down a log bordered by blooming larkspurs, chasing 

 sphynx moths that were feeding from the flowers. The moths were 

 darting about and Mr. Bailey did not see any caught. On leaving the 

 mountains in August we found the nutcrackers in the pines as low 

 as Sooo feet, and in rounding the south end of the range, on the way to 

 Las Vegas, the last of August we saw a few scattered individuals as low as 

 6000 feet in the pifion pine and juniper belt. 



Cyanocephalus cyanocephalus. Pinon Jay. — At 7000 feet, on the 

 upper edge of the Upper Sonoran zone, a large flock of Piiion Jays was 

 seen flying high overhead on August u, and on August 12 a flock of six 

 or eight wanderers was found feeding on the ground at timberline, 12,300 

 feet, on the side of Truchas Peak. 



Sternella magna neglecta. Western Meadowlark. — Mr. Mitchell 

 says the meadowlark breeds as high as 8000 feet in San Miguel County, 



