APPENDIX TO OSCINES. 



[Mote.— A portion of Mr. T. M. Trippe's series of interesting observations upon the 

 birds of Colorado, having failed to reach me in time for insertion in the earlier pages 

 of this work, they are here introduced, together with various additional data respect- 

 ing the si>ecies thus far treated. The remainder of Mr. Trippe's notes is '.u substance 

 incorporated, 2)a«s^»^, in the work.] 



The period during which my notes were made, extends from January, 1873, to the 

 early part of December of the same year ; the field of observation. Clear Creek County, 

 Colorado, with two or three adjacent townships of Gilpin and Jefferson counties. Dur- 

 ing different parts of the year, excursions were made throughout the whole of this 

 region ; and although these were not as frequent as could have been desired for a com- 

 plete account of the avi-fanna, yet they were so often repeated that I believe very 

 few birds escaped me, except such as are rare visitors or mere stragglers. 



Clear Creek County lies on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, extendiug 

 from the summit of the main range some twentj- to twonty-tivo miles eastward, aifd 

 about the same distance north and south, the centre line being in latitude 39"^ 40' 

 nearly. It is traversed by a number of streams, whose valleys lie from 300 to 1,500 oi- 

 2,000 feet below the surrounding ridges and peaks. The general course of the main 

 stream. South Clear Creek, is nearly due east ; but the smaller tributaries, running at 

 various angles to this course, so out up and divide the surface as to present a confused 

 assemblage of isolated peaks and ridges, disposed in no regular order or system, and. 

 divided by deep valleys and ravines, which, toward the range, become in many instau-, 

 oes, precipitous, rooky canons. Bordering the country on the east, lies Bergen's Park ; 

 an open p.ark-liko tract of rolling, grassy prairie, interspersed with groves of pines, 

 low hills, and wet, marshy swales, a miniature of the great parks lying to the west- 

 ward of the range. The elevation of the western edge of the county, — the dividiug 

 ridge of Atlantic and Pacific waters, — is between 11,000 and 12,000 feet, isolated peaks 

 rising 1,500 or 2,000 feet higher; from this the general surface slopes eastward at the 

 average of about 300 feet per mile, the slope being much greater nearer the range 

 however, and diminishing as the distance from it increases, to the eastern border of 

 the county, which has an elevation, in its lowest part, of between 6,500 and ,7,000 feet 

 above the sea. Bergen's Park, lying for the most part in Jeii'erson County, has an 

 elevation varying between 7,000 and 7,500 feet. 



The streams are for the most part mountainous torrents, rarely with a fall less thaii 

 one hundred feet per mile, and, near the range, three or four times that, being fre- 

 quently a simple succession of cascades and waterfalls for miles. These waters, save 

 when muddied by the placer workings, are always clear and cold, and abound with 

 the black-speckled trout and two or tliree species of chub and sucker, the latter, how- 

 ever, being only found iu the lower valleys, where the current is less rapid than higher 

 up toward the range. Near timber-line, nestled under the very shadows of the mam 

 divide, most frequently faced by perpendicular cliffs of rock, or abrupt, precipitous 

 and craggy slopes, are numbers of small, deep lakes, varying from mere pools to one 

 hundred acres or more in size, and usually bordered on one or more sides by deep, cold 

 bogs, wherein grow various species of arctic willows and other alj)ine plants. Their 

 surface is covered with ice from the end of October till early in July, some with north- 

 ern exposure not being free from ice till late in August ; and their waters are always 

 of an icy coldness, owing to their depth and the melted snow which is constanly 

 pouring into them. Some few of the deepest are tenanted by trout; but the majority 

 are void of life, save various forms of insects which pass the larva state in them. One 

 or two lakes at a lower elevation, near 10,000 feet, swarm with the curious Siredons or 

 Amblysiomw. Under these conditions, the absence of aquatic birds will not be sur- 

 prising ; and with a single exception no wader or swimmer can be said to be charac- 

 teristic of the region. 



Great as is the diversity of the surface, the climate is perhaps still more variable. 

 The season of 1873 was in no way a remarkable one ; there was less snow frhan usual, 

 but otherwise it was a fair average of the weather since the settlement of the country. 

 During January, February, and the first half of Maich, the weather was delighttul 

 beyond comparison. No snow nor rain fell, with the exception of three or four days iu 

 February ; the mercury never sank below zero ; the days were bright, cloudless, and 

 mild, even warm, 20° or 25° Fahrenheit being a common temperature at 7 a. m., while 

 at midday it rose to 50° or 60°. On the 7ih of February the mercury stood at 71° in 

 the shade at noon, at an ele%ation of S,llUO feet. After the middle of March wintry 

 weather set in ; there was a constant succession of snow-storms, violent winds and 

 biting frosts, continuing till May. On the first of June, at an elevation of 7,800 feet, 



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