spotted as the egg of a Meadowlark {Sturnella magna). I mention this particular- 

 ly because this lad discovered for us four other sets of this same exceptional type, 

 and that in three widely separated localities. And yet the four remaining mem- 

 bers of the party, who together found a hundred sets or so of the Cactus Wren 

 in the course of the season, came upon nothing out of the ordinary. I submit the 

 case — and I can vouch for eve y egg — as being something of possible interest to 

 the psychologist. 



The morning of May 2nd found our party of oological pilgrims at a way- 

 side camp in the broad belt of mesquite forest which lines the Gila River in its 

 middle lower course. One hesitates to apply the word "forest" to a sylvan man- 

 tle only twenty feet in thickness. The word ought more properly to be reserved 

 for the designation of the magnificient stand near Tucson, the Mesquite Forest 

 par excellence, which we shall enter in a few days. Such as it is, however, "tim- 

 ber" or scrub, the verdure of the Gila is sui generis, a gray-green ribbon which 



',- '■'.- 



THE RECORD FOR HIGH NESTING OF THE CACTUS WREN. ROBERT CANTERBURY 

 IS TAKING ONE OF HIS FREAK SETS FROM A MESQUITE TREE NEAR INDIAN OASIS 



follows a devious river in its windings, and which harbors a world of interesting 

 birds. Here we first met "Paloma," the White- winged Dove {Jlelopelia asiatica 

 trudeaui) and the shy Lucy Warbler {Jermwora luciae). The Dwarf Cowbird 

 (Jlolothrus ater obscurus) was there to keep tab on nesting operations. Cactus 

 Woodpeckers (Dri/obales scalaris cactophilus) "pinked", and Arizona Least Vi- 

 reos {Vireo belli amzonae) chattered, and Gila Woodpeckers grumbled, while 

 Desert Quails chuckled and shouted and scurried. 



But our narrative would be as long as the desert road if we stopped to 

 appraise every variety of cover or every novelty of bird song which we encounter- 

 ed between Yuma and Phoenix, or between Phoenix and Tucson. The out- 

 standing impression of the entire journey, to a novice, was the abundance and 

 variety of thrashers. Indeed, the whole region deserves to be called Thrasheria. 

 At a wayside station below Chandler, where the vegetation was exceptionally 

 sparse, we saw four species of the Mimidae, viz., the Bendire Thrasher (Toxostoma 

 bendirei), the Le Conte Thrasher (T. lecontei), the Crissal Thrasher (T. cnssale), 

 and the Western Mockingbird (Jlimus polyglotlos leucopterus). Only the entire 



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