44 Brown, Arizona Bird Notes. Tj^^ 



later we tried it a second time, under more favorable conditions, 

 as we were but a little more than fifteen hours making it. It 

 differed scarcely from the first in the way of Elf Owls, as but four 

 were taken during the day, and with them two sets of eggs, one of 

 three and one of four. Both sets were partially incubated, but 

 less so than those on the preceding week. With one exception 

 the birds were taken from cactus growing in or close to the edge 

 of the valley. 



I expected to have met with some form of Screech Owl, but 

 found no sign of them whatever. I found two partially built nests 

 of the Ash-throated Flycatcher {Myiarchus cinerascens), and five 

 nests of young Gila Woodpeckers {Centurus uropygialis), and one 

 of Swainson's Hawk {Biiteo swains oni). These, with the owls, 

 represent nearly loo miles of travel and the work of four men for 

 two days, with the thermometer well up to 150 degrees in the sun. 

 I merely mention these things to illustrate the hard work a bird 

 man bumps against on the Lower Colorado. The young wood- 

 peckers were of all sizes and conditions of feather. In one nest, 

 containing three very young birds, I found a fresh egg. The 

 hawk's nest contained two young birds. They left the nest as we 

 approached it, but struck the ground less than fifty feet away. 

 They were a beautiful pair, and encouraged by their screaming 

 parents were full of fight, but by a little maneuvering I managed 

 to get them to the scant shade of a paloverde tree where I left 

 them. The nest was a bulky affair, made of sticks and padded 

 with dead bark. It was built against the body of a cactus and 

 was supported by a pair of curving arms. The partially consumed 

 bodies of a wood rat and a large lizard were on the nest. 



I found many bats in the cactus, sometimes a dozen or more in 

 a single hole. They were all of the pale form of Vespertilio fuscus, 

 ugly little rascals to put one's hand among. In one cactus I un- 

 covered a whole colony. Every hole chopped into, and there 

 were at least ten of them, swarmed with bats. Finally but one 

 remained to be examined ; as it was rather awkwardly situated I 

 was inclined to leave it, and in doing so stated to my companions 

 that owls were too cleanly to associate with such dirty neighbors. 

 I did, however, cut it open and, to my surprise, I found an owl. 

 If it was a case of convenient larder the nest contained no evidence 



