THE PLAINS AND COLORADO wj 



of them were strangers ; no introduction was nec- 

 essary, except as to song and action. 



My previous journeys, even the one that had 

 taken me to eastern Kansas, and also the winter 

 spent at Panasofkee Lake, had not brought me 

 into relation with a new set of conditions in bird 

 life ; I mean by this a different fauna, especially 

 of small birds. There were a few new ones in 

 eastern Kansas, but the general character of 

 bird life at both that point and at Warrensburg, 

 Missouri, was similar to that of the East. In 

 Florida, taking out half a dozen large and con- 

 spicuous kinds, such as the herons, ibises, and 

 wild turkeys, and among the small birds, the 

 paroquets, there was little in the general aspect of 

 the fauna very different from that of Princeton. 

 Now I was passing through a country where 

 another set of conditions predominated. The 

 birds of eastern North America were few ; stran- 

 gers presented themselves on every hand. 



Here was a bluebird of the finest azure both on 

 his back and breast taking the place of our red- 

 breasted bluebird of the East. Now and then the 

 song of the mountain mocking-bird greeted the ear. 

 In some of the streams we passed I saw for the first 

 time the water-ouzel swimming, diving, and living 

 its aquatic life. Yellow-headed blackbirds and 

 Brewer's blackbirds were the representatives of 

 that family; while Bullock's oriole replaced the 



