BIRDS OF COLORADO. II9 



D. D. Stone records the shooting of one at Hancock, October i6, 

 at 10,000 feet. It was in open water in the ice on a lake. Snow 

 had been on the ground for two weeks and it was snowing at 

 the time. (O. & O. VII. 1882, 181.) 



702. Oroscoptes montanus. Sage Thrasher. 

 Summer resident; not uncommon. Comes east as far as 



the edge of the plains and is about in equal numbers along the 

 eastern slope of the mountains and in western Colorado. Ar- 

 rives early in April and breeds from the plains to nearly 10,000 

 feet. Leaves the State late in October. 



703. Mimus polyglottos. Mockingbird. 



Summer resident; not uncommon, locally. In southeast- 

 ern Colorado, along the Arkansas from Pueblo eastward, as 

 abundant as at any place in the south. Fairly common north 

 to Colorado Springs and thence is not common and irregular 

 over the rest of the State east of the mountains. According to 

 Ridgway, C. E. Aiken was the first to record the mockingbird 

 from Colorado (Bui. Essex Inst. V. 1873, 178) but this is an error, 

 since it was found by Maj. Long's party, with nests and young 

 at the Platte River near where Brighton now stands, July 4, 

 1823. -H- ^- Smith reports them as quite common in 1895 

 along Clear Creek near Denver and W. G. Smith says they used 

 to breed on the Big Thompson near Loveland. F. M. Dille 

 says that they used to breed abundantly in Greeley but left for 

 isolated places because their young were so much sought. 

 They breed regularly in the Republican Valley at the eastern 

 end of Arapahoe County. During the summer of 1896, two 

 pairs took up their residence on the grounds of the Agricultural 

 College at Fort Collins where they had never before been seen. 

 Four other pairs were noted in the neighboring foothills to 

 about 6,000 feet. They have several times been seen at Chey- 

 enne and Dr. Jesurn reports the capture of an adult male April 30, 

 1894, at Douglas, Wyo., 150 miles north of Cheyenne. Arrives in 

 southern Colorado the latter part of April and breeds early in 

 June. Breeds mostly on the plains, but occasionally in the 

 foothills to 8,000 feet. 



704. Galeoscoptes carolinensis. Catbird. 



Summer resident; common. Breeds from the plains to 

 about 8,000 feet. Arrives early in May and breeds the latter 

 part of June. Shy, but fairly common on the plains and the 

 eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains ; rare in western Colorado. 

 Nowhere in the State is it so common as in most parts of the 

 Mississippi Valley. Returns from the mountains to the plains 

 in August. 



