32 THE SEMI-ANNUAL. 



catchers were rather common, though I only found one nest with 

 five fresh eggs. Bhie-grey Gnatcatchers wei^e also nesting. 

 Black-headed and Western Blue Grosbeaks, as well as Lazuli 

 Buntings were added to my collection. 



Among the palms I shot several Nuttall's Woodpeckers, but 

 failed to secure their eggs. Texan Nighthawks seem to find this 

 a congenial home and I saw Killdeer Plover several miles from 

 the nearest water. I shot one Crissal Thrasher and saw one 

 California Vulture, sailing along the base of San Jacinto. 



To procure specimens of two species of birds, with their eggs, 

 was a great inducement to me, to visit this region of sand and 

 desolation. They were the Poorwill and Leconte's Thrasher. 

 The former I could hear every evening and they seemed 

 numerous, but the eggs, or even the birds, by daylight, are 

 difficult to find. I have spent days looking among the cactus and 

 stunted bushes, or on the rocky hillsides, with the thermometer 

 ranging from 90 to no in the shade and with all the Indian help 

 I could get and only succeeded in finding three sets of two eggs 

 each and one pair of very young birds. 



They seem to lay almost anywhere, in the slightest hollows — 

 without nests — and are verj' close setters, so that it is very diffi- 

 cult to flush the birds. My experience leads me to the belief 

 that the egg will be very rare for a long time and who ever looks 

 for them where I have, will find two rattlesnakes to one egg. 



Nests of the Leconte's Thrasher are not hard to find, il one 

 gets where the birds are, as they are bulky and not very well 

 concealed, though in the thorny mesquite, it is often all one can 

 do to get at them. I took several sets last Spring and some on a 

 former visit to the same section. These sets were of two, three 

 and four eggs. I think three may be the most common number 

 and that full sets of two occur as often as those of four. 



I have found them from three to eight feet above the ground in 

 mesquite, cactus, palo verde and other small trees and bushes. 



These are some of the common birds of the desert country, 

 but no doubt, many rare ones may be found. Collecting there 

 has its hardships as well as pleasures. It is extremely hot and 

 dusty ; a dazzling, blinding glare to the sunlight as reflected from 

 sand, rock or alkali ; scarcity of water in most places ; sand 



