1920 J Wetmore, Birds of Lake Burford, N. Mex. 405 



62. Sturnella neglecta Audubon. Western Meadowlark. — Mea- 

 dowlarks were fairly common in open localities about the shores of the 

 lake. On June 11 a nest containing four eggs and two newly-hatched 

 young was found below the cabin at the edge of the marsh, placed in a 

 last year's growth of Foxtail and Salt grass. As several bands of sheep 

 had been trailed through here it was only by chance that this nest sur- 

 vived. Another young bird hatched on June 12 and a fourth one on the 

 following day. The other two eggs may have been infertile as they had 

 not hatched on June 19 when I left the region. The adult meadowlarks 

 savagely attacked Redwings and Yellowheads that chanced to approach 

 the nest site and permitted no intruders whatever. 



63. Euphagus cyanocephalus (Wagler). Brewer's Blackbird. — A 

 pair nested near a hayfield below the Laguna de la Puerta, where they 

 were observed on May 31 and June 12 and 19. None were found nearer 

 the large lake. 



64. Carpodacus cassini Baird. Cassin's Finch. — A male was seen 

 among Yellow Pines on a high hill east of Lake Burford on June 9. It 

 was perched in the top of a very tall pine and was singing. The song in 

 general was like that of the Purple Finch but was given more rapidly and 

 emphatically. 



65. Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis (Say). House Finch. — A 

 House Finch was observed near the eastern shore of Lake Burford on 

 June 16. 



66. Spinus pinus (Wilson). Pine Siskin. — Pine Siskins were seen 

 in the hills above the lake on May 26 and 28 and on June 16. 



67. Pooecetes gramineus confinis Baird. Western Vesper Spar- 

 row. — The Vesper Sparrow was common through the sage brush on the 

 flats and knolls surrounding the lake and males sang constantly around 

 the cabin. On June 6 a female flushed from a nest near the western shore 

 of the lake, ran away along the ground through the bushes with her wings 

 extended and held stiffly above her back. The nest was placed in a small 

 hollow at the foot of a partly dead sage where the trunk arched out over 

 it, protecting and partly concealing it, a needed shield from the trampling 

 feet of sheep that were grazed here. The nest was a large, well-formed 

 cup of dried grasses, lined with finer material of the same nature. It 

 contained two young apparently five or six days old, partly covered with 

 grayish white down. 



- 68. Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus Bonaparte. Western 

 Savannah Sparrow. — Savannah Sparrows were found in small numbers 

 in dead weatherbeaten growths of Bayonet Grass near the open shores 

 on the northern and southern sides of the lake. Apparently they bred, 

 as birds were noted here on May 28 and 30 and June 6, but no nests were 

 found. On June 6 a male was singing. 



69. Chondestes grammacus strigatus Swainson. Western Lark 

 Sparrow. — Fairly common in the country near El Vado. At Lake Bur- 

 ford one pair nested on an open flat above the grove of large cottonwoods. 



