The Season 



109 



these circumstances there has been a 

 scarcity of birds, a scarcity showing itself 

 more in the number of individuals than in 

 the number of species. 



It would appear that under such mild 

 conditions, with the scarcity of snow, many 

 birds can find sustenance almost anywhere 

 in the outskirts of the city and in the 

 immediately surrounding country, and 

 therefore do not come into the city and its 

 parks as abundantly as they do when 

 snow covers the low weeds, etc., in the 

 suburban districts. There has been noted 

 a somewhat unusual number of Hawk 

 species. Thus, on Christmas Day, a 

 Sparrow Hawk, a Prairie Falcon, and a 

 Richardson Merlin were seen in Denver, 

 which, together with the presence of Owls, 

 may help account for the small number of 

 Juncos, etc., seen in the city. There is no 

 doubt but that these predaceous birds 

 were probably also more common in the 

 territory immediately surrounding Denver. 

 It is still a source of wonder that Clark's 

 Crow should remain in the vicinity of 

 Denver all winter; a pair has been seen 

 several times in the city since December 

 15. Both of these birds had very dirty 

 plumage, probably from the dirt and smoke 

 of the city; in fact, they looked almost 

 black, and one identified them, at a dis- 

 tance, only by their white markings, as 

 seen in flight, and their characteristic call. 

 While there is no way of settling the ques- 

 tion, it seems to the writer that these 

 Clark's Crows are but a single pair, seen 

 at different times and in different places. 

 These birds were last seen in the neigh- 

 borhood of my house on February 15. 



The season now under consideration can 

 be compared with that of past years by 

 taking any given day and noting the birds 

 seen at such a time. The Christmas 

 Census data collected during the past eight 

 years will be as representative as that of 

 any other day of the same period. Thirty- 

 seven different species have been seen on 

 Christmas Days of the years 191 2 to 1919 

 (inclusive). There are 8 species which 

 have been seen yearly on this day (or have 

 been present at least 75 per cent of the 

 days): Ring-necked Pheasant, Orange- 



shafted Flicker, Desert Horned Lark, 

 Magpie, Red-winged Blackbird, Tree 

 Sparrow, Pink-sided and Gray-headed 

 Juncos. In other words, one can reasonably 

 count on seeing these 8 species on almost 

 any day in the winter-time, in the vicinity 

 of Denver. On the other hand, 14 species 

 were observed but once on Christmas 

 Day during these eight years; they are: 

 Great Blue Heron, Mourning Dove, Marsh 

 Hawk, Saw-whet Owl, Screech Owl, 

 Downy and Lewis's Woodpeckers, Long- 

 crested and Woodhouse Jays, Yellow- 

 headed Blackbird, Redpoll, Slate-colored 

 Junco, Brown Creeper, and Townsend's 

 Solitaire. An e.xamination of this list of 

 37 species shows that 8 are either un 

 common at all times or very erratic in 

 their visitations; these are: Richardson's 

 Merlin, Saw-whet Owl, Redpoll, Slate- 

 colored Junco, Brown Creeper, Townsend's 

 Solitaire, LewisWoodpecker, and Yellow- 

 headed Blackbird. Furthermore, 3 species, 

 Great Blue Heron, Mourning Dove, and 

 Sparrow Hawk, are prone to be here only 

 during mild winters, and, contrariwise, 2 

 species are more apt to visit this neighbor- 

 hood during severe winters, that is to say, 

 the Redpoll and Cassin's Finch. Seven 

 others of these 37 species one can possibly 

 see on any winter day in this area, but, 

 in truth, it must be said that one might 

 have to institute a patient search for them 

 in suitable places in order to be successful; 

 these are: Marsh Hawk, Prairie Falcon, 

 Screech Owl, Downy Woodpecker, Song 

 Sparrow, and Long-crested and Wood- 

 house Jays. Many others of these 37 

 species have been observed here in mid- 

 winter, but on two or three occasions only. 

 In all probability these birds were present 

 each year on Christmas Day, but lack of 

 time or adverse weather conditions, or 

 both, prevented a search thorough enough 

 to reveal them. In this list may be included 

 American Rough-legged Hawk, Long- 

 eared Owl, Hairy Woodpecker, Meadow- 

 lark, Great Northern Shrike, Shufeldt's, 

 Mountain, and Grey-headed Juncos, and 

 Long-tail and Mountain Chickadees. 

 The 4 species occurring in the greatest 

 abundance in this season are Red-winged 



