Vol. XXIX1 



1912 



J Bergtold, October Birds of the Gila River. ool 



thirty years he has viewed with queer feehngs the kaleidoscopic 

 procession of names successively given to a species, the Robin, for 

 example. It unquestionably is wise and correct to be guided 

 by logical rules in such matters, and with this admission one may 

 be permitted the hope that after a while all the older writings will 

 have been unearthed, searched, and analyzed, and the exact 

 priority as to a bird's name will have been determined.^ Mean- 

 while, to one who loves the birds more when they are in the hills 

 than when in the hand, and yet tries to add his mite to the grand 

 total of ornithologic knowledge, the task of trying to remember the 

 two or three more or less elusive and shifting scientific names of 

 four hundred or more birds he may have become acquainted with 

 during his lifetime, is hopeless — Ars longa, vita brevis. 



Record No. 8, for obvious reasons, is made in the language of 

 science. 



It is a pleasure, as well as a duty, to here acknowledge with 

 renewed thanks and appreciation, the unremitting kindness of 

 Victor Culberson, Pres., J. B. Gilchrist, Treas., and R. F. Herndon, 

 Secy., of the G. O. S. Cattle Co., without whose unfailing help 

 these brief records could not have been made. 



1. Nettion carolinense. Green-winged Teal. — Four seen on a 

 small reservoir in Terry Canyon, Oct. 7, 1906. 



2. Ardea h. herodias. Great Blue Heron. — Seen several times 

 along the larger streams, the latest date being Oct. 24, 1911. 



3. Egretta c. candidissima. Snowy Egret. — One taken Oct. 21, 

 1908, at the G. O. S. Ranch, previously recorded in Auk, January, 1909, 

 p. 76. 



4. Actitis macularia. Spotted Sandpiper. — More or less common 

 on the larger streams. Latest date, Oct. 16, 1909. 



5. Oxyechus vociferus. Killdeer. — Common on the larger streams. 

 Latest date, Oct. 16, 1909. 



6. Lophortyx gambeli. Gambel's Quail. Common on the lower 

 levels of the entire area. 



7. Cyrtonyx montezumaB mearnsi. — Locally known as the " Fool 

 Quail." Common all over the area. 



8. Meleagris gallopavo merriami. — Multi greges parvi videbantur 

 per totam regionem. 



9. Columba f. fasciata. Band-tailed Pigeon. — Seen in moderate 

 numbers each year, in various portions of the area: — none seen in 1907; 



1 cf. Notes and News. p. 431. [Ed.] 



