CjO Mearns, Arizona Mountain Birds. [January 



cea, Dendroica gracice, Setophaga pt'cta, Cardellina rubri- 

 frons. 



As restricted, the summer avifauna of this mountain region com- 

 prises, according to my observations, a hundred species.* This 

 number will doubtless be considerably augmented upon thorough 

 exploration. 



Colymbus nigricollis californicus. American Eared Grebe. — This 

 handsome Grebe is very numerous on Stoneman's and the Mormon 

 Lakes, where great numbers of them breed, as they also do at a small 

 lake near Flagstaff. Their nests bear so close a resemblance to small 

 floating masses of mud and herbage that they are difficult to discover, for 

 which reason I overlooked them for some time. The eggs are covered, 

 and the parents seldom go near them, at least during the daytime. On 

 Stoneman's Lake they were so abundant that a couple of dozen were shot 

 in an evening, three being killed at one shot. I caught one diving bird, 

 as it came to the surface close beside my boat, but released it after obtain- 

 ing its photograph. 



Merganser americanus. American Merganser. — I found this bird 

 breeding in various mountain streams which pay tribute to the Verde and 

 and Salt Rivers. It also breeds on the upper courses of both of these 

 rivers, nestlings having been procured as low as tin vicinity of Fort 

 Verde, on the Verde River. 



Anas boschas. Mallard. — This was found commonly on several 

 lakes and streams in the Mogollons, during the months of May and June; 

 and I think they were breeding, although I did not secure nestlings or eggs. 



Anas strepera. Gadwall. — This species was common on the moun- 

 tains, where there was water in sufficient quantity, and was probably 

 breeding, although we failed to discover its nest. 



Anas americana. Baldpate. — A number of Baldpates were shot by 

 my party at Mormon Lake during the latter part of Maj', 1887, at which 

 time they were doubtless breeding. This lake is a shallow body of 

 water, about fifteen miles in circumference, occupying a basin in the Mo- 

 gollon Mountains, some forty miles southeast of the San Francisco peak. 

 It is of variable size and depth, depending upon the rainfall, and was 

 then so grown up with tule, cat-tail, and other aquatic vegetation, that it 

 resembled an immense field or marsh. As our only boat was a hollow log, 

 so heavy that progress was both slow and laborious, our examination of 

 this lake was far from being either complete or satisfactory. I felt sure 

 that these Ducks were breeding there, although we could not find their 

 nests. A male, shot on the 28th of May, was bleached to a pale drab color, 

 with the markings much obscured, the green on sides of head not being 

 apparent at all. Its quills were so worn and abraded that it certainly 



* Probably several of these species do not breed in Arizona, their breeding having 

 been inferred from their presence there in summer. The facts are so stated in alj 

 such cases. 



