NATURALIST IN CALIFORNIA. 479 



a valuable collection sent by the "Golden Gate," on the way 

 to Washington, but I happened to reserve the other one, 

 about the occurrence of which west of the Rocky Mountains 

 there has been some discussion.* 



May (Jth, shot the first Blue Grosbeak (Guh'aca coerulea) ; 

 14th, the Blue-headed Grcenlet ( FtVeo solitavius^), \;\\\(A\ 

 Dr. Cones omits from the birds of Arizona, supposing it to 

 be his V. plumheus, which however is quite distinct, and one 

 I did not obtain. $ 



May 19th I found a nest of the Yellow-breasted Chat 

 containins: thrcic eirijs, besides one of the parasitic Cow-bird ; 

 on the 8th a nest of the House Finch, or Red Linnet (Car- 

 podacus frontalis), wdth eggs, and on the 19th that of the 

 Song Sparrow [Melospiza fcdlax).§ May 20th I first saw 

 the Blue Linnet (Ci/anospiza amoena), and shot Hammond's 

 and Traill's Flycatchers (Empidonax Hammondii and E. 



* See Coues' List of Birds of Fort Whipple, Arizona, in " Proceedings of tlie Pliila- 

 delpliia Academy of Natural Science," January, 186G. Compare also Coues, in " Ibis," 

 April, 181)5, and July, 18GG; Baird on Distribution of Birds, in " Silliman's Journal," and 

 my article on Additions to the Fauna of California, in the " Proceedings of the Califor- 

 nia Academy of Sciences," 1\, iii, November, ISfiS. 



tLength4.87; extent 9; M'ing 3 inches; bill black; lower mandible bluish; feet lead 

 color; iris brown; male. 



X I take this occasion to notice the prevalence of lead-gray among the arboreal birds 

 of these arid regions, just as brown prevails among the more terrestrial. It replaces 

 the brown, olive or greenish, in many species also found in moister and more wooded 

 regions, while others, difl"ering in other respects from their eastern representatives, 

 are considered as distinct species peculiar to these regions. The Pigeon Hawk (Falco 

 columbarius), Mottled Owl {Scops asio var. McCalUi), Niglit Hawk {Chordeiles popetue 

 var. Ilenryi), Icteria viridls var. longicauda, Thriothorus {Bewickii var.?) leucogaster, 

 Pocecetes {(/rconineus var. ?) conjinis, Melaspiza {melodia var. ?) fallax, Sturnella (imigna 

 var. ?) »ej^/ec<rt, and Ground Dove {Chaiiunpelia pusserina var. pallescens), furnish exam- 

 ples of more or less marked difl'erences in tliis respect IVom those of other regions. The 

 gray species as usually recognized, are the Hare lliiwk (Falco ])olyogriis), Squirrel Hawk 

 {Archibuteo fernigineus), Micraihene Whitneyi, Nuttall's Whippoorwill {Atitroftomus 

 Kuttallii), Weatern Kingbirds {Tyrannus vociferans and rcrficn^ts). Say's Pewee {Say- 

 ornis Sayiis), Empidonax obscurus, PoUoptUa plumbea, Grace's Warbler {Dendrceca 

 Gracice Coues) of Fort Whipple, Ilelminthophaga LucicB, Swainson's Vireo ( V. Sicain- 

 soni), Lead-colored Vireo ( ('. plumbeiis), Cones' Vireo ( V. vicinior) ; these last three IVom 

 Fort Whipple; Little Xiveo (V. piisillns), Lead-colored Titmouse (/'sa/^ri^arus plum- 

 belts), Lawrence's Goldfinch {Chrysomitris Lawrencii), Pale Snowbird {Junco caniceps), 

 all of which have darker-colored representatives either east of the Mississippi, or on 

 the west coast, or both, Avhjle some of them extend theii- range to one or both of those 

 natural boundaries. 



§ The nesting, as well as the arrival of many birds, was ftom one to two months 

 later than at San Diego in 1802. 



