INTKODUCTOBY NOTES. 135 



was spent in making daily excursions in the vicinity of the city, more 

 especially along the banks of the Platte River, which is here tolerably 

 well timbered, principally with cottonwoods, and on Cherry Creek. At 

 the time of my arrival, I found the season quite backward, and the vegeta- 

 tion was little, if any, in advance of what I left in the vicinity of Boston. 

 But few of the trees had fairly begun to leaf out, though before my 

 departure the cottonwoods and many others were far advanced in this 

 respect. The observations made at this time are believed to be posessed of 

 very considerable value, as giving the time of arrival of a large num- 

 ber of species ; while the capture of quite a number is of especial interest, 

 as extending their range much farther to the west than was hitherto known. 

 The fauna in the vicinity of Denver is perhaps best compared with the 

 Carolinian of the Eastern Province ; but the list presents such a number, 

 as would naturally be expected from the early season at which the collec- 

 tion was made, which are to be regarded merely as migrants, and which 

 spend the summer far to the northward. 



Fort Garland is situated in Southern Colorado, on the lowest bench of 

 the Sierra Blanca Mountains, distant twenty miles east of the Rio Grande, 

 in latitude 37° 25' north, longitude 105° 26' west, and has an elevation of 

 7,600 feet above the level of the sea. Immediately surrounding the post 

 is a sage brush plain, which to the northward and westward stretches away 

 for many miles, presenting the same unvarying characteristics, but to the 

 north and east is broken up by volcanic ridges, which are soon lost in the 

 foot hills of the mountains. The foot hills are well clothed with pifions and 

 cedars. From May 24 till June 3, the time was spent in making collections 

 in the immediate vicinity of the fort, more particularly upon the creeks 

 which flow through the plain, and are well timbered with cottonwoods, and 

 in many places skirted by heavy brush. As might be expected, the imme- 

 diate neighborhood of these streams affords a home for large numbers of 

 birds ; the number of species, however, not being great, and of these by 

 far the larger part are of the smaller insectivorous kinds. The almost total 

 absence of the large rapacious birds was very noticeable, and during my 

 whole stay in the region I saw but two (Buteo calurus and Bubo arcticus). 



A week's camp in the pine woods at the base of Mount Baldy, some 



