REPORT UPON AND LIST OF BIRDS COLLECTED BY THE EXPEDITION FOR 

 EXPLORATIONS WEST OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH MERIDIAN IN 1872; 

 LIEUT. GEO. M. WHEELER, CORPS OF ENGINEERS, IN CHARGE. 



By Dr. II. C. YARROW and HENRY \V. HENSHAW, 

 FEBRUARY 15, 1873. 



The following report upon the birds of Utah and Nevada, collected 

 by the expedition under Lieutenant Wheeler, is based upon the speci- 

 mens taken and observed during the mouths of July, August, Septem- 

 ber, October, November, and December, 1872. 



While every possible facility was afforded by the commanding officer, 

 it is much to be regretted that more time could not have been spent in 

 a closer examination of the habits of the various birds seen, and, as a 

 consequence, the notes must necessarily appear somewhat meager. 



It should be taken into consideration that many of the lines of travel 

 were over an almost arid waste of sand and sage-brush, with little vege- 

 tation and less water. Under such circumstances we might expect to 

 find a great paucity of species j but with the exception of those varieties 

 inhabiting the wooded localities, our collection will be found to repre- 

 sent a fair proportion of the western forms, our list numbering no less 

 than one hundred and sixty-five different species. 



It is also greatly to be regretted that, owing to the lateness of the 

 season at which the field-work commenced, very few observations as to 

 the nesting-habits of the birds could be taken, although quite a num- 

 ber of eggs were secured. It is hoped that the discovery of several 

 species new to the fauna of Utah may prove of some value to our pres- 

 ent ornithological knowledge. 



A list of species taken during the expedition of 1871 is appended, 

 together with a complete list of the birds of Utah as far as known, with 

 annotations by Mr. Henshaw, assistant naturalist.* 



The classification of the species noted is substantially the same as 

 that of Professor Lilljeborg, of Upsala, (vide Proceedings Zoological 

 Society of London, January, 18G6,) and adopted provisionally by the 

 Smithsonian Institution, and the nomenclature that adopted by Dr. E. 

 Coues in his Check-List of North American Birds. 



TURDID^E. 



lurdus miyratoriiiS) L. llobin. 



Usually found in the neighborhood of settlements, building close to 

 houses, and exhibiting the same sociability as in the East. Very com- 

 mon at Provo, where a few years since it was unknown. Flocks seen 

 in lieaver Canon in September, and occasional ones in the canons in 

 December ; it undoubtedly winters there in considerable numbers. 



* This list appeared as a separate paper, and was printed in the Annals of the Lyceum 

 of Natural History of New York, vol. xi, June, 1874. 



