200 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



the arid waste. On either hand, almost as far as 

 one could look up and down the valley, the ground 

 was as absolutely bare as if newly tilled. Add to 

 this its parched character, which allowed the 

 slightest travel to grind the surface into dust, 

 and the picture is complete. 



At the time this ranch at Riverside served as a 

 station for the stage route that ran from the rail- 

 way to the city of Globe, a copper camp of con- 

 siderable importance, high in the Finals. As I 

 proposed to make this my headquarters for some 

 two months, I looked about for quarters. Finally 

 I secured the solitary cabin, which consisted of a 

 single room, some twelve feet square. It was 

 built of adobe, and had the ordinary mud floor 

 and roof. On the side away from the river I 

 soon had erected a shade forming a sort of piazza, 

 or outside room. Here in most weathers I was 

 able to prepare such ornithological material as 

 was collected. 



Small birds were present in great numbers and 

 variety. The Gila woodpecker could be heard 

 calling everywhere, much like its red-bellied ally 

 in Missouri and Kansas. Mocking-birds and two 

 thrashers, Palmer's and crissal, sang constantly. 

 Along the river, two warblers, one of them breed- 

 ing commonly, at once arrested my attention. 

 These were Lucy's warbler and Virginia's war- 

 bler, both characteristic of this region. The 



