•5CA Stephfns 07t Leconie's T/irasker, etc. [October 



the east, and enclose the desert between them. Much of this 

 desert lies below sea-level, having been cut off from the Gulf of 

 California by alluvial deposits at the mouth of the Colorado 

 River. The railroad passes along the northern edge of the desert, 

 which is uninhabited except by the men necessary to keep the 

 railroad in operation, and by a few Indians. At Indio the rail- 

 road company keep up a hotel and eating-house. In the imme- 

 diate vicinity are small mesquit trees and other brush, and a 

 couple of miles to the north are hills in which are several groves 

 of palms, making it a very fair desert collecting ground. 



To get to the part of the desert where I went, it v^^ould be 

 necessary to hire a conveyance large enough to carry tent, 

 blankets, horse feed, and provisions enough to last the entire trip, 

 as nothing but water can be procured on the desert, and the 

 water in but few places. Don't foi'get a canteen, and after the 

 beginning of April don't start for a half-mile walk without 

 having it with you filled with water, as it is an excessively dry 

 climate, and dangerous without water. The thermometer gets 

 to ioo° in the shade in April, and even to 130° in July and 

 August. 



We entered the desert March 26, 18S4, over a sandy, boulder- 

 strewn road, over which it was impossible to drive faster than a 

 walk ; and stopped at Agua Caliente, a warm spring a few miles 

 south of the railroad. Haifa dozen families of Indians cultivate 

 a few acres of land in the vicinity of the spring, making a green 

 place very grateful to the eye after passing over the cactus-covered 

 desert. 



An hour's walk among the little Indian fields revealed several 

 species of common birds, some of which species had not as yet 

 this season made an appearance on the opposite side of the 

 mountains. The most interesting species found near this spring 

 was Calypte costce^ and in the three following days they proved 

 quite common all over the plain and in the foothills of the adja- 

 cent mountains. I believe the species is resident in the foothills, 

 and it undoubtedly breeds in the canons. In the afternoon I 

 found an old nest of Auriparus Jiaviceps^ the next day taking a 

 bird of this species. I think this is their extreme western limit. 



On the morning of the 27th our party started for a visit to a 

 large palm grove, in a caiion six miles south of Agua Caliente. 

 I went on ahead, and among some large larrea bushes, a mile or 



