.) 
= 
1908] Grinnell—Biota of the San Bernardino Mountains. 2 
water at the time of our visit in August had been developed in a 
ditch cut into a ravine back of the ranch. We found charac- 
teristic mammals of the vicinity to be: Mojave wood rat, Mer- 
riam chipmunk, Merriam kangaroo rat, antelope chipmunk, 
eround squirrel, and Bangs pocket mouse. Birds presumed to 
have bred in the neighborhood were: rock wren, pallid wrentit, 
Brewer sparrow, black-throated sparrow, California sage spar- 
row, Texas nighthawk, California jay, roadrunner, California 
bushtit, western gnateatcher, linnet, black-chinned sparrow, poor- 
will, and Nuttall woodpecker—a peculiar association of Upper 
and Lower Sonoran species. Besides these, at the time of our 
visit, there were a host of transient birds. 
CUSHENBURY SPRINGS. 
Cushenbury springs is at the north base of the San Bernar- 
dino mountains and on the southern edge of the Mojave desert. 
It is located at about 4000 feet altitude, on the upper slope of an 
alluvial fan which spreads out from the mouth of Cushenbury 
canon. There are barren foothills on either side, while down to 
the north some two miles hes a broad desert plain with dry 
yellow lake beds hemmed in by rocky ranges beyond. Cushenbury 
springs is in ‘the Lower Sonoran zone, the surrounding desert 
being sparsely covered by tree yuceas, three species of cactus, ex- 
tensive areas of the creosote bush, occasional clumps of mesquite, 
and various spiny shrubs belonging to the Mojave desert flora. 
The seepage area at the springs proper is rather extensive, there 
being several acres of meadow, with considerable willow thicket, 
and a fine large clump of Fremont cottonwoods. A Mr. MeFee, 
who owns several mining prospects in the adjacent foothills, lives 
there, and treated us very hospitably. He cultivates an acre or 
more of ground, which produces abundantly, and the small peach 
orchard looks thrifty. By all odds the most abundant bird of 
the surrounding desert was the desert black-throated sparrow. 
Other characteristic species were: Texas nighthawk, Costa hum- 
minebird, rock wren, mourning dove, mockingbird, cactus wren, 
California shrike, and Seott oriole. - Besides these, a great num- 
ber of transients, and visitors from the nearby Upper Sonoran 
