°,S95 J Merriam, The LeConte Thraaker. P r 



Panamint, Death Valley, and Amargosa Deserts in California; the 

 Detrital, Gila, and Yuma Deserts in Arizona; the Pahrump and 

 Vegas Deserts in Nevada, and the Valley of the Virgin which 

 reaches northward across southeastern Nevada and northwestern 

 Arizona to the extreme southwestern corner of Utah. 



Of the birds that breed in the desert no species is abundant, 

 though the Black-throated Sparrow {Amphispiza bilineata) is toler- 

 ably common and the Cactus Wren and Costa Hummingbird are 

 frequently observed. A few others are met from time to time. 

 The presence of two of these is most often revealed by their 

 footprints on the sand. They are the Road-runner {Geococcyx 

 calif oniianus) and the LeConte Thrasher {Harporhynchus lecontei). 

 The latter is by far tlie more abundant of the two and its pleasant 

 song is often heard in the distance, though the bird is seldom 

 seen. 



During the Death Valley Expedition it was my good fortune to 

 ride on horseback with my assistant, Mr. Vernon Bailey, a 

 distance of about 1500 miles within the restricted area inhabited 

 by the LeConte Thrasher, and to follow the northern boundary of 

 its range from California across Nevada to Utah and Arizona. 

 During this journey, covering the months of April, May and June, 

 I first saw the bird on the Mohave Desert between Daggett and 

 Pilot Knob, April 4; nearly every day afterward it or its foot- 

 prints were seen, or its song heard. It was usually a shy bird, 

 keeping at a distance, and eluding pursuit by running rapidly 

 over the ground and hiding among the cactuses or desert brush. 

 When running it commonly carried its tail elevated at an angle of 

 about 45°, as mentioned by Mr. Stephens. If a Thrasher was 

 seen singing on a mesquite or creosote bush and an attempt was 

 made to approach within gunshot, it would immediately drop 

 to the ground and escape by running; and the chances were 

 very much against seeing it again. This extreme wariness is 

 hard to understand in view of the remoteness of the region from 

 the haunts of man, for it is safe to say that throughout the area 

 traversed no bird of this species was ever looked at over the 

 barrel of a gun before the visit of the Death Valley Expedition. 

 At the same time it is true that at certain points along the out- 

 skirts of its range (as in Owens Valley, California) the young are 



