102 



THE OOLOGIST 



THE AMERICAN DIPPER AT HOME 



While making a trip to some min- 

 ing claims in the mountains 20 miles 

 north of this city on March 20th of 

 this year,, I found which seemed to 

 be a fine place for the American Dip- 

 per. About eleven miles from town I 

 struck "8 Mile Creek" which is a 

 swift rushing little stream, and comes 

 tumbling down from the high mount- 

 ains above. I then followed the trail 

 up this creek which runs most of the 

 way through a deep gorge, for about 

 six miles, and here I found the Dipper 

 thoroughly at home. There was until 

 about four years ago a narrow gauge 

 railroad running up through this can- 

 on, which is known as "Phantom 

 Canon," from Canon City to Cripple 

 Creek, Colo. This railroad was 

 washed out during a big flood, and 

 they are now blasting and making 

 this old road bed into a fine auto road, 

 so I did not expect to find many birds 

 around all of this noise, however, I 

 saw my first pair about a hundred 

 yards above one of the road camps, 

 where some of the heaviest blasting 

 goes on, and it did not seem to fright- 

 en the birds in the least. They would 

 fly up from a rock in the middle of the 

 creek with a loud whistle and away 

 they would go up the creek, and when 

 we got up quite near them, back they 

 would go on down where they first 

 came from. It is a funny sight to 

 watch them bobbing up and down on 

 a large rock, and wading in the water. 

 I noticed when they were flying up or 

 down the creek they . flew very swift 

 and low down, just skimming over the 

 surface of the water, and just as they 

 started on their flight they would 

 generally let out a loud flute like 

 whistle, starting in a "high key" and 

 ending in a much lower tone, and 

 sometimes this would be repeated 

 after lighting. 



In going up this canon about 6 



miles I saw five pairs of Dippers, and 

 located a nest across the creek on a 

 shelf of rock on a perpendicular cliff. 

 This nest was eight feet up and direct- 

 ly over the water. The nest of course 

 was an old one, but some of the moss 

 was green, making it look like a new 

 nest. I did not disturb it as I want 

 to make a trip up there next June if 

 possible, and I am in hopes I can lo- 

 cate several nests if I have the time 

 to do so. I have a set of four eggs 

 from Ontario, Canada, but I would 

 like to secure a set or so myself from 

 Colorado. 



I also saw a few of Clarkes Nut- 

 crackers out there. They seemed to 

 stay on the high ridges, and the very 

 tops of the mountains. I have looked 

 for their nests many a time, but a 

 person might look for 100 years and 

 then not find any. I have been look- 

 ing myself for 24 years for these elus- 

 ive birds,' and never found a nest, and 

 never saw any one that did. No won- 

 der they are catalogued at $15.00. I 

 guess they and the Rocky Mountain 

 Jays are about the most impossible 

 of any birds to find breeding in this 

 part of the country. 



Robert F. Backus, 

 Canon City, Colo. 



BOOKS RECEIVED 



Bulletin, American Museum Nat- 

 ural History, Vol. XXXVIII, article 9, 

 June 1918. 



"The Geographical Distribution of 

 color and of other variable characters 

 in the genus Junco. A good aspect 

 of specific and sub-specific value by 

 Johnathon Dwight." 



This pp. 269-309 accompanied by 5 

 distributional maps and 3 colored 

 plates with 22 colored figures are by 

 far the best produced along the lines 

 indicated in the title that has come 

 under the observation of the Editor. 

 If more analytical papers were pre- 



