THE ATLANTIC SLOPE NATURALIST. 



45 



Some of the Birds of Cripple Creek, 

 Colorado. 



By Frank A. Hassenplug, J1. D., 

 Cripple Creek, Colo. 



Many people go through the world 

 with their eyes closed so far as seeing 

 things that appeal to lovers of nature, 

 while in other respects the same indi- 

 viduals are bright and active and fre- 

 quently good financiers. 



The habit of being a good observer 

 may be inherited, but in children it 

 undoubtedly can be developed with 

 proper care and training like any other 

 faculty. 



To illustrate, permit me to relate 

 the following: A lady told me a few 

 days ago that she had seen a blue bird 

 in her yard just previous to our inter- 

 view and that it was the first bird she 

 had seen in or around Cripple Creek 

 during her nine years' residence. It 

 was indeed difficult for me to believe 

 the latter statement, because I can see 

 from five to eight species of birds in 

 or around my yard every day in the 

 proper season and it is less than two 

 hundred yards from her house to mine. 



The lady in question is a very schol- 

 arly woman, but evidently one who 

 sees nothing in nature beyond moun- 

 tains and lakes, and they would prob- 

 ably be directly in her line of vision 

 or be missed altogether. My state- 

 ment that I could locate at least 

 twenty-five varieties of birds in a half 

 day's trip through the hills was re- 

 garded as a huge joke. Partly to prove 

 to her that I was correct and partly to 

 satisfy myself, I took a saddle horse, 

 note book and pencil and jotted down 

 the names of the various birds as they 

 were encountered. The list does not 

 represent at all the number of birds 

 to be found here, nor even one third 

 of them, but just those seen during 

 a ride of several miles down one gulch 

 and up another, with but a single 

 dismount. 



A number of other birds were seen 

 but not identified owing to distance, 

 density of foliage on some of the 

 pinon or other evergreen trees. There 

 was at least one specimen of each of the 

 following, and in many cases from a 

 half dozen to several score cliff swal- 

 low, tree swallow, blue bird, phoebe 

 bird, robin, American cross bill, Car- 

 olina dove, mocking bird, house wren, 

 ring neck plover, water ousel, Eu- 

 ropean sparrow, white throated spar- 

 row, fired sparrow, junco, chickadee, 

 Northern shrike, magpie, raven, West- 

 ern blue jay, red-winged blackbird, 

 yellow-winged blackbird, cow bird, 

 downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, 

 red-shafted flicker, meadow lark, 

 horned lark, red- tailed hawk, sparrow 

 hawk and golden eagle. 



One would naturally suppose that 

 birds would not care to live at an 

 altitude of nine and a half thousand 

 feet, where the nights are always cool 

 and during the greater portion of 

 the year absolutely cold and insect life 

 inconsequence not at all plentiful. 

 Such, however, is not the fact, as 

 anyone can see by reading over the 

 list and by taking into consideration 

 the disadvantage unto which I was 

 placed by not stopping and examining 

 the trees, bushes and rocks more 

 thoroughly. 



All of these birds with the possible 

 exception of the mocking bird breed 

 within eight miles of town, and as I 

 have seen several during the nesting 

 season, believe that they also are in 

 our immediate neighborhood rearing 

 their brood at this writing. 



If the readers of The Atlantic 

 Slope Naturalist are at all inter- 

 ested in Colorado birds, I can in some 

 of the coming numbers describe briefly 

 a few of the peculiarities of the more 

 interesting feathered inhabitants such 

 as the eagle, ousel, leucosticte grebe, 

 magpie, and horned lark, because those 

 living in the Eastern States have little 

 or no opportunity to study them. 



