A Day with the Birds in Southern Arizona 
By STEPHEN SARGENT VISHER, Carnegie Desert Laboratory, Tucson, Ariz. 
, \HE morning of June ts, I 
was awakened, before dawn, 
by the increased yolume of 
sound caused by several birds singing 
in unison, perhaps a Mockingbird, a 
Cassin’s Kingbird and a Hooded 
Oriole, for they were the first that 
I recognized. Soon the drowsy put- 
tering of Vermilion Flycatchers, the 
spirited whistle of clumsy Pyrrhu- 
loxias, the warbling of the House 
Finches, and, in the notes so familiar, 
the Red-winged Blackbirds from near 
their nests in the trees by the ditch 
(in lieu of rushes, they have here 
become tree-inhabitants), were rec- 
ognized. From the distance, the rest- 
ful ‘purring’ call of the Gambel’s 
Quail, and the sharp, though very 
musical whit of the Palmer’s Thrasher, 
completed the melody. - 
The peculiar ‘bubbling’ call, which 
is substituted by the Texas Nighthawk 
Toe ee for the peent and boom of the 
CACTUS WURBIN AND CONTAINING eastern bird, sounded as from afar— 
FOUR YOUNG : z . 
Photographed by W. W. Arnold, at Tucson, it was so faint,—but, nm fact, the 
ASiZ pens o7e0ce authors were flying within a few feet 
of me, as I lay on my cot on the flat roof of the adobe house. 
A call from the cactus-covered slopes behind was the gentle, rapid cooing 
of the Pygmy Owl. Even while listening to this, a large one, perhaps a Short-eared, 
flapped softly past, almost close enough to fan my cheek. 
As the spreading light grew brighter, the conviction that my work could be 
neglected for the day grew stronger, and, as the sun rose, bordered by a strange 
green light (one of the wonders of the desert), I arose and girded up my loins. 
The long ride across the broad valley to the mouth of Pima Cafion in the 
Catalina mountains was full of interest. All desert life takes advantage of the 
cool of the morning, and is out where it can be seen. Gophers and ground squir- 
rels of several varieties were about, and watching for them were the slim coyote, 
of which I had a glimpse as I topped a low hill, and the sailing Red-tailed and 
Swainson’s Hawks, and from the top of giant cacti the ubiquitous Sparrow 
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