Vol. XXI 

 1904 



J Bailey, Birds of the Upper Fecos. 3S9 



nest of three eggs, and two broods out of the nest were found ; on July 25 

 young were seen going about with their parents ; on July 30 a nest was 

 found with one egg and newly hatched young ; on July 31a nest of four 

 eggs was discovered ; on August 6 an old bird was seen feeding young in 

 a tree ; August 7 a nest was found with four eggs, and on August 15 an 

 old Junco was seen collecting food. All of the nests were on the ground, 

 completely hidden by tufts of grass or bunches of weeds, being discov- 

 ered only by flushing the brooding bird. When the Junco is not flashing 

 its white tail feathers its rufous back may well serve its relatives as a 

 recognition mark, especially in the dull light on the edges of clearings 

 where other small birds gather. 



Melospiza lincolni. Lincoln Sparrow. — This was the only Melospiza 

 found in the mountains, although we were on the lookout for montana^ 

 and in San Miguel County Mr. Mitchell says it breeds from 7000 to 9000 

 feet. Mr. Henshaw says that lincolni "evidently does not occur in sum- 

 mer," but we found it breeding in the higher parts of the mountains, 

 both on Jack Creek at 11,000 feet, and by the lake at the foot of Pecos 

 Baldy at 11,600 feet. Young were being fed out of the nest at 11,000 feet 

 on July 29. 



Pipilo maculatus megalonyx. Spurred Towhee. — Mr. Henshaw 

 found only one or two pairs of tnegaloiiyx and we saw the bird only once 

 or twice in the mountains, but found it fairly common in the foothills 

 between Pecos and Santa Fe on the lower edge of the Transition zone. 



Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus. Canon Towhee. — Mesoleiicus is one of the 

 common caiion birds of the Upper Sonoran juniper and nut pine belt and 

 follows its zone up the Pecos to its limit at 7200 feet. 



Oreospiza chlorura. Green-tailed Towhee. — We obtained a .single 

 specimen of chlorura on July 13 at Sooo feet, and Mr. Henshaw found one 

 brood and saw a few migrants. 



Zamelodia melanocephala. Black-headed Grosbeak. — A male gros- 

 beak was taken July 15 at Sooo feet, one was seen July 20 at S700 feet, and 

 a female was obtained at about 10,000 feet, near the upper limit of the 

 Transition zone. 



Guiraca caerulea lazula. Western Blue Grosbeak. — A Blue Gros- 

 beak was reported on August 6 about eight miles north of Pecos in the 

 Upper Sonoran zone. Another was seen earlier in the season between 

 Glorieta and Pecos. 



Piranga ludoviciana. Western Tanager. — At 8000 feet we found a 

 pair of tanagers feeding young on the edge of camp July 16. The song 

 and call notes were constantly in our ears. When the female was away 

 the male would sit on a branch and call pit-ic, pit-ic, pit-ic by the half 

 hour. He would call in the same way when hunting for food, moving 

 slowly and quietly over the cottonwood branches. The female often gave 

 a three syllabled call of pit-er-ick, pit-er-ick. A nestling that I suc- 

 ceeded in catching in my hand, much to the temporary distress of the old 

 birds, was, as Mr. Ridgway says, marked much like the female. Its upper 



