^° 1914 ] Rockwell and Wetmore, Birds of Golden, Colorado. 311 



one thousand acres of land and the entire "Mountain Park " plan 

 as outlined by the civic expert, Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted con- 

 templates the eventual expenditure of over two million dollars. 

 The "Denver Mountain Parks " bid fair to develop into one of the 

 scenic features of Western America, and it will be interesting indeed 

 to note the effect of this vast campaign of development and im- 

 provement upon the future distribution and abundance of bird 

 life within the park district. 



Distribution Areas. 



The plains area covering all of the low country and extending 

 practically to the base of the foothills and on the warm slopes of 

 the Table Mountains nearly to their summits was characterized 

 by growths of Helianthus, Opuntia, Atriplex, a species of Peritoma, 

 etc., while broad-leaved cottonwoods grew along the streams and 

 even extended up some of the gulches beyond their mouths. The 

 creek bottoms supported dense growths of wolf berry and other 

 shrubs, forming with the cottonwoods favorable cover for retiring 

 species. Characteristic birds of this region were Icterus bullocki, 

 Agelaius p. fortis, Carpodaous m. frontalis, Astragalinus p. psaltria, 

 Ammodramus s. bimaculatus, Melospiza m. montana, Passerina 

 amoena, Ideria v. longicauda, Dendroica a. oBstiva, Geothlypis t. occi- 

 dentalis, and Dumetella carolinensis. 



In the gulches, lining the bottoms and forming thickets on their 

 steep sides were found various shrubs as Prunus, Symphoricarpus, 

 Cratccgus, Opulaster and Acer glabrum. The Oregon Grape {Ber- 

 beris aquifolium) was abundant, Anielanchier sp. and Heracleum 

 lanatum less so. The Narrow-leaved Cottonwood {Populus angus- 

 tifolia) grew in Turkey Creek Canon and in Chimney Gulch 

 were dense growths of Ninebark. Pipilo m. montanus, Oreospiza 

 chlorura, Vermivora virginioe, and Salpinctes obsoletus were more 

 common in this intermediate area with many other birds ranging 

 in from above or below. 



On the summit of Lookout Mountain (Plate XXXI) occurred 

 growths of Lepargyrea canadensis, Rubus strigosus, Epilobium, 

 Vaccinium, Alnus, Populus tremuloides and many others. Cyano- 



