ZZ4: Wetmore, Birds of Lake Burford, N. Mex. [April 



in a short period Largo and Tapacitos Canyons to the west have 

 been colonized and many more white people have come into this 

 area. El Vado is the present railroad point from which these 

 settlers receive supplies, and as the road to El Vado passes the 

 lake, the region is becoming more frequented. 



Conditions at the lake are such that spring is late and it was 

 curious that when I arrived the season was farther advanced on 

 the high pine covered slopes than lower down along the shore. 

 From May 24 to June 5 the average morning temperature at 6 :00 

 A. M. was about 40° F., while on May 26 and 27 ice was found in 

 the rushes bordering the beaches. After June 5th it became 

 warmer. Heavy winds from the west prevailed during May, but 

 moderated later. At the time of my arrival black willows were 

 beginning to bloom in protected places, and in a few spots along 

 the lake shore small broad-leaved and narrow-leaved cottonwoods 

 were in bud. Gray willows did not blossom until June 17th. By 

 June 6th vegetation showed slight increase as growth, retarded 

 by the cold nights, was slow. The breeding season for marsh birds 

 (save the passerines) did not begin until about May 25 and was 

 not at its height until June 10, while Eared Grebes had just begun 

 their nest-building on June 18. 



The work at Lake Burford was undertaken primarily to ascer- 

 tain what species of water birds bred there and in approximately 

 what numbers these occurred. Comparatively little collecting 

 was done, as it was desired to disturb the birds as little as possible, 

 but long hours each day were spent in observation, aided where 

 necessary by the use of 8-power binoculars. The natural condi- 

 tions at the lake were such as to render observation of the avian 

 inhabitants a comparatively simple matter. A stand of dead tules 

 remaining from last year bordei'ed much of the shoreline, and the 

 broken clumps of these rushes were just high enough to form a 

 natural blind wherever I cared to sit down and watch. When 

 observation at long distance was necessary other cover was avail- 

 able in the sagebrush on the knolls above. Most of the birds that 

 occurred here were very tame and it was the ordinary thing to 

 have them carry on the business of every day life, with no sign of 

 fear or uneasiness, within 30 to 100 feet of me as I lay concealed in 

 the rushes. 



