308 Widmann, Birds of Estes Park, Colorado. LJuly 



not only threaten but really bring a good rain, everything was 

 refreshed, plant and bird, and the laziest songsters became musical 

 for a short time. 



Compared with eastern birds the songsters of the region were with 

 few exceptions the laziest musicians imaginable; not even the early 

 morning hours, which are so full of melody with us, induced them to 

 much effort, and during the day the silence away from the village 

 was almost exasperating even in June, still more so in July. The 

 farther away from human activity the more retiring were their 

 habits, and with the thick vegetation along the watercourses and 

 the dense foliage of the evergreens it was easy enough for any bird 

 to hide and remain invisible even when singing or calling. Not only 

 their song but even their call-notes were much softer than those of 

 their eastern relatives, and it took the sharp ear of Mrs. Widmann 

 to notice the faint lispings of the Empidonaces and other slender- 

 voiced species. 



From the long list of summer residents it might be inferred that 

 there is an abundance of bird life to be found in Estes Park, but 

 such is not the case. By visiting the surrounding mountains at an 

 elevation of over 10,000 feet the list could have been swelled to a 

 full hundred, but of this great number of species only about a dozen 

 could be called common, and these only near human habitations. 



The Western Robin was by far the most numerous and conspicu- 

 ous bird at all places visited, and its song, frequently the only one 

 heard, was freely given at all hours of the day and until dark in the 

 evening. Next to the Robin in abundance and singing was the 

 Western House Wren, whose musical ability was found to be of a 

 higher quality than that of its eastern cousin; it had a finch-like 

 intonation, which was rather misleading at times. Conspicuous 

 by its lovely color and charming fearlessness was the Mountain 

 Bluebird. Unfortunately it was a silent bird ; only a short, ventrilo- 

 quial call-note, slightly reminding the dear carol of our eastern 

 Sialia, was heard when the parents tried to keep the family together. 

 Along the watercourses in the neighborhood of settlements the 

 Warbling Vireo and the Mountain Song Sparrow could be called 

 common, as their songs could not escape the ear of anyone who cares 

 for bird music; away from men they were rather rare, and the same 

 can be said of the White-crowned Sparrow. 



