alus, with their abrupt markings of black, are among the most delectable of all 

 Tyrannic! ovals; and the set figured in our frontispiece is perhaps as richly marked 

 as any yet discovered. 



At the opposite pole for modesty stands the Lucy Warbler {Vermlvora 

 tuciae), whose little-known ways had chiefly lured us to these woods. A little 

 gray wraith who takes precious good care to be seen as little as possible, one 

 would scarcely suspect its presence in the tangle of mesquite trees or the thickets 

 of All-Thorns {Zizyphus) but for the tell-tale shreds of grass or of bark which stick 

 out from behind some bark scale or other frayed woodland pocket. The song, 

 something like that of the Yellow Warbler {Dendrocia aestiva), is loud and charac- 

 teristic enough, but the song and the singer are matters difficult to connect. Yet 

 when the oological attention is once directed to the ways of the Lucy Warbler, 

 and the gnarled trunks of the mesquite trees begin to yield up their secrets, it is 

 amazing how common the bird may be. Our party found some fifty nests of 

 this species, and sixty of the Vermilion Flycatcher — found, I say, not took. We 

 left the Gila Woodpeckers to take their share of the crop, and the evidence goes 

 to show, especially in the case of the Lucy Warblers' eggs, that the Woodpeckers 

 got more than a fair share. Cortical concealment being exactly in their line, 

 they have become passed masters in the arts of acquisition. 



The third commonest species of these woods was, perhaps, the Arizona 

 Least Vireo. These confiding little creatures swung their May baskets to the 

 lower branches of mesquite saplings, and awaited the attentions of snooping 

 Dwarf Cowbirds, who were not wanting. The male Vireos insist upon singing in 

 close proximity to the nest, so that discovery is easy. The nesting life of this 

 little midget is one incessant struggle with these dastardly Cowbirds. One irate 

 vireo I saw who seized a cowbird three times her size and dragged her off the nest 

 by main force; but it was too late, or would have been if I had not removed the 

 bastard incubus with an egg scoop. 



Rarer forms haunted the forest and added their mysteries to the glamor 

 of the whole. Arizona Pyrrhuloxias {Pi/rrhuloxia sinuata sinuata) lilted and 

 whistled along with their scarcely to be distinguished cousins, the Arizona Car- 



CAMP IN THE MESQUITE FOREST 



31 



