68 CRISSAL THRASHER. 
, 
at which the species has yet been found.”* Other nests were found in mesquite bushes 
six to eight feet from the ground. They were composed of grasses and weeds, the inner 
nest resting upon a mass of large sticks loosely placed. The nest-lining was of grass 
and a few feathers. 
NAMES: Leconts’s THRASHER, Yuma-Thrasher. 
SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Toxostoma lecontei Lawr. (1851). HARPORHYNCHUS LECONTE!I Bonap. (1853), 
A. O. U. “Code and Check List” (1886). H. redivivus lecontei Coues, Key (1872). 
DESCRIPTION: “General color, above pale ashy-drab; below much paler, tinged with ochraceous. Chin and 
upper part of throat, white, bordered by indistinét dusky submaxillary stripes. Cheeks and maxillar 
whitish, with dusky spotting.” (Mearns.)—Length about 10.50 inches; wings about 4 in. or less, tail 
5 iu. or more. Bill about 1.50 in. 
CRISSAL TARASHKER. 
Harporhynchus crissalis BAIRD. 
PLate lV. Fic. +. 
NW REGION of our Union is replete with so much of the unusual in nature, as 
eS Arizona. The rocky, very often bald-peaked, mountains, the parched desert-like 
plains, and the river valleys with their meagre tree-growth, have remained almost to 
the present day the resorts of one of the most notorious Indian tribes, the Apaches. 
To keep these within due limits a number of forts have been erected. The higher officers 
and the army physicians there situated, have contributed to a more accurate knowledge 
of the natural history of this most characteristic region. Here Dr. Elliott Coues, Capt. 
Charles Bendire, Dr. Henry, and others, have been active. The climate of Arizona is hot 
and dry, and very changeable during the short winter season. During the hot months, 
the thermometer often rises in the valleys to 115 and 120° Fahrenheit in the shade. 
Springs and deep rivers are rare. The vegetation of the desert-like plains consists almost 
exclusively of different species of cactus. Here is the real home of the giant cactus, 
or “sohuara,” which not unfrequently grows to a height of fifty to sixty feet, and 
powerfully impresses the traveler who sees it for the first time. The other species (except 
the tree cactus'), especially the hedgehog cacti, the opuntias, and echinocerei, are not 
remarkable for height, but for their great dimensions and terrible armor of spines. 
Yuccas, too, agaves, and various thorny shrubs, are to be found growing here. More 
luxuriant and varied plant-growth is to be found in the river valleys. Notwithstanding 
the scarcity of water and the monotony of vegetation, bird-life is still represented by 
many and beautiful forms. Different Hummingbirds, Orioles, and several decidedly 
tropical Flycatchers and Trogons, are found here. Mast numerous are the different 
Towhees and Thrashers, which might hence be regarded as the really characteristic birds 
*See Dr. E. A. Mearns, “On the Birds of Arizona.” Auk, Vol, HJ, 1886, p. 299 —su7. 
! Opuntia arborescens, 
