Dec. m, 1883.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



43 6 



their number has died, but if it were to save my life I could 

 Dot, to-day, till the l.urial spot of one of them, nor do I sup- 

 pose thai 1 could find i 1 '" a month's search. 



Out ponies have been picking their way down the stony 

 trail ['or a mile, and here w6 are on the hanks of "Teponis ' 

 ( Irfcok, almost ill the foot of the meat lock, where, without a 

 nUng voice, we agreed to stop, and find out hefore dark, 

 what the neighboring woods and adjacent waters contained. 

 We made canip just Where Brush Creek falls into "Teponis." 

 If any of youi-rcaders, who have heretofore been satisfied 

 with 'lighting black Hies and mosquitoes, and vainly looking 

 for "hia- bucks" in the Adirondack*, want to "enjoy a new 



-.i ; mi." as lie- gentleman said at the dinner party when 



fc'hj ryauf spilled a hot cup of coffee down the hack of his 

 let them come here in September and set their tents 

 anywhere in sight of "Tum-he -wa-ua-ra." Here are 

 noiusect pests at this time of the year. The daysare bri pit 

 ami clear, and just comfortably warm; the nights Cool enough 

 for a couple ol pairs of blankets over you. The. green hills 

 ,i: i pottod red and yellow, where the frost has touched the 

 thickets of aspen, oak, mountain ash and choke-cherry, and 

 On their slopes and in the gulches the hunter who can endure 

 rough, hard climbing will find. hear, elk and deer; plenty of 

 mountain sheep if he goes above timber line, while in the 

 level park he nan puss an afternoon stalking a herd of ante- 

 lope, or beating the hushes along the creek for sharp-tailed 

 -rouse, and after the labors of the day rest himself by taking 

 a few dozen trout out of one of the Weaver ponds along the 

 creek We left the latter agreeable task to our Pike county 

 companion, Jell', as usual, who said "he'd ruther slay uigu 

 to camp 'n look out fur the 'stock' 'n git supper fur ye iu 

 . , jit belated,"and dividing our forces, we struck out 

 for the timber, John and I down stream this time, as Curtis 

 aud Pi-ah thought we "had the bulge Oh them" at the last 

 camp, in having U)6 best ground to hunt. John winked and 

 said tome, aside, Never mind, me tell urn sutntiug, ' aud. 



, w ... ii to the low hills that rise from 



the creek, less than a mile below our camp, saying, with a 

 Chuckle, "Two, tree little wafer (little lakes) ober dah. 

 Heap big buckskin stay dab." 



We climbed the backbone of one of thekuolls and on corn- 

 ing lo the summit found the entire hill for a mile, and a half 

 was a land slide" or "slip," forming a regular bench on 

 which was a scattered growth of pine aud aspen, with here 

 and there a thicket of scrub-oak, and about a quarter of * 

 mile apart, as John had said, were three little lakes will, lily 

 pads mi Ike surface, and cat-tails and saw-grass around the 

 i iIlm -. YVV passed the first one and "took post," as the sol- 

 si j , on a flai rock and behind a clump of oak brush, 

 over the tops of which we could see the little lake, or pond, 

 for it was not over a hundred feet across. The sun was 

 1 1 1 eh hall an hour high by this time, and we knew the 

 deer would be stirring soon. 



1 had watched the brush patches till my eyes ached, and 

 was relieving i.hcui by looking at the glorious effects of the 

 -un-ci on the crag, and glaciers of the Dome Peak, when 

 .b.hu laid his bund on my arm audwhispored, "pou-nec ka!" 

 [.look and there on the opposite side of the pond stood one 

 of the biggest biacktail bucks 1 ever saw. He was staring 

 at us "with all his eyes.' - and his mule-like ears were pointed 

 forward to catch the least; sound our slightesl murmur 

 inighl make. I knew that a deer would often stand and gaze 

 lor minutes thus at a motionless hunter, hut that a turn of 

 the head would startle it like a clap of thunder. Realizing 

 that it would not do to be deliberate, 1 threw my rifle up with 

 a jerk, and fortunately caught sight of his breast 

 through the hack sight. But the deer was as quick as I, 

 and a'sl pulled the I rigger he whirled about like a flash— too 

 late! poor brute; the bullet caught him behind th 



Idet and smashed the right to smithereens. Tv 



aedespairino bounds, a -ndeloiig plunge, and the noble 



animal lay dead. At the crack of my rifle out from thebrusll 

 between us, and the water's edge, jumped another buck, 

 bounding high, and in such a zig-zag fashion that my shol 

 missed, But caused him to turn up the hill. As soon as he 

 Showed flbOVe the "brow." John commenced pumping lead, 

 and f acted spectator. The first shot broke a hind leg and 

 halted him a few seconds onlv. the second went over and 

 the third fell short.. By this tune the deer was within fifty 

 yards of limber. 1 was raising mv gun to try my luck, when 

 ■'crack!'' w-iii the fu ; s Winchester, and almost simulta- 

 neously 1 heard the biillci "spill" as though it had struck a 

 -II [he loci going down as if hit, by a holt of light- 

 ning, and no wonder! for'thislast shol, went, in at the butt of 

 his ear and out above the opposite eye, taking about half of 

 bis brains with it. This was a fat spikfi buck, so we took 

 hi, liver ami SQ [ts, and left the other for the pro- 



i, found in the rocks near by, whom we 



i . I.y She tracks about his front door, to be a very large 



limber wnll 



tbi our way back to camp we saw five more deer in a 

 hunch within ■ i | ran e butwedid not fire at. them, and 

 they, in turn, stood watching us as long as we were in sight, 

 As' we descended the hill a flock of thirty or more sharp- 

 tailed ■- > inglj two three at a, lime, and sailed 



awlty to the lowlands, where they dropped their legs at the 



edge- of the Willows o I loubt were asleep 



long before we were. We were . ihean of our companions 

 iufearliiug camp, and loo hungry to wail for 1 hem, when 

 we caught, the incense of Jeff's fragrant Coffee aud "briled" 

 venison. After supper a pipe and a walk to see that the 

 horses were all right consumed half an hour, and still the 

 loiterers came not," Tying up the dog and leaving coffee- 

 pot and frying-pan by the fire we turned iu to sleep the sweet 

 sleep Ol flu Freil and successful hunter, Daylight came all 

 soon, and with the first glimmer 1 was up and at the 

 fi ut dour. The camp-lire was dead, the cooking utensils 

 undisturbed, and 1 had got the sleep out of my eyes suf- 

 ficiently to realize that our companions hail laid out. In 

 my next I will tell you what befell them and how they took 

 a lesson in herding 'mountain sheep. YUMFAH. 



PJSNVBR, Col,, Dee 15, 1863 



littminl ^i§tm%. 



77ii •'Fiifhrriinjn" iv/e.s xhniH be matted as eaHy tit prac- 



-■,-,-, ,-,. pagt 43Q, 



AinnuNi'U k Foothills.— Coinstoek's. N.Y., Dec. 17,— 

 CmustockV, being situated upon the foothills of the Adiron- 

 dack, is oever without plenty of game, but this y-ear there 

 is more than ever. A bear has killed several sheep quite 

 mar the village, and has been seen by several persons. A 

 lyiix.'ilso has been seen several times upon the mountains. 



U l.i i discordant cries are distinctly heard at night. Wood- 

 choppera report seeing deer while at work, a thing quite 

 nun-ma] Partridges and WoodCQr-k are very plenty , but 



s <"■•-■ 6 C B.j 



THE PURPLE FINCH AND HIS COUSINS. 



BY DIt. ELLIOTT COUES. 



3. — Carpadaem bowM 



rN 1854, at the time when Cassin's purple liucb was first 

 made known to science by Prof. Baird, Who described 

 the species from specimens procured in the Colorado Valley 

 by Dr. Kenuerly, the richness of the avifauna of that 

 region was only beginning to appear. That wonderful 

 Basin has since continued to yield a rich harvest to the dili- 

 gent and enterprising naturalists who have undertaken its 

 exploration. Novelties have continually been brought to 

 light, and the ventures of meu like Ilenshaw aud Bfendire, 

 who have faced toil, privation and danger in their enthusi- 

 asm, have gradually shown us how rich a field had before 

 lain fallow If we except, perhaps, the valley of the lower 

 Bio Grande, whose vaiied treasures have been laid at our 

 feet by Bennett aud Merrill, no other region in the United 

 States lias been more fruitful of discoveries in ornithology 

 of equal interest. The proportion of rare, interesting 

 and still imperfectly known species is in the Col- 

 orado Valley exceptionally high. This is due in 

 part to the peculiar physical features ot the re- 

 gion, and the olimatological influences there operative 

 iu pioducing those modifications of bird-life which wo call 

 "Specles;"in part to the geographical position of (he great 

 Basin, which causes it to be tenanted by many kinds of 

 birds from the neighboring parts of Mexico. When collec- 

 tions began to coma in, before 185s, and were submitted to 

 Baud's examination, that naturalist's critical faculty aud 

 extent of information enabled him to characterize with pre- 

 cision many species which have ever since held their own; 

 but some of the more conservative of our ornithologists were 

 inclined to marvel or doubt, as the case might be, that so 

 many novelties remained tube characterized. What would 

 such say now. after scarcely more than I wenty years, at the 

 extent of the Coloradan bird list ; at t he proportion of what 

 were then unknown birds it contains; at the familiarity we 

 have acquired with many a bird long known to us only by 

 name? But science progresses ; and since we have found 

 birds in New England aud the .Middle States that neither 

 Wilson nor Bonaparte. Nuttall or Audubon knew of, then- 

 need be no surprise that the borderlands of our country, such 

 as the valleys of the Bio Grande and of the Colorado, of the 

 Columbia and of (lie Yukon, arc but gradually drained of 

 their resources, 



(Strolling one morning in early April along the little stream 

 that flows past Port Whipple, I noticed a flock of birds in a 

 tall cotlouwood. which stood where one of the. many side 

 ravines made down from the hills. 1 saw with half an eye 

 that they were purple finches, but supposed them_lo be the 

 burious,' which were common enough in thai locality all the 

 year round, and of whom I already secured good store. But 

 my attention was drawn to their song, as one after another 

 was induced to join in a chorus, following the lead of the 

 mosl ambitious member of the flock, who had sounded the 

 key-note first. Drawing nearer, 1 soon perceived how much 

 lar'»er they were than burious. and was satisfied that. a. dif- 

 ferent species of Cnriio'liirii* .vas belore me. Instinctively 

 marking the brightest colored bird of them all, Hired: off 

 flew the terrified survivors, and the next moment 

 ] was admiring the size and beauty of the 

 specimen I had secured. "Cassin's, and no mis- 

 take!'' 1 saiil aloud; and having made sure of this, I went 

 with the collector's ardor fully aroused, in quest of more. 

 The flock had not flown Far, 'some were singing again as 

 merrily as if nothing had happened, while nther.-. h:a ! i.-suuiei! 

 their operations upon the buds of the tree in their new feed- 

 ing ground. Heedless of approach as I hey were. 1 could 

 watch i hem at my leisure. 1 noticed thai nearly all the 

 company were in 'plain brown attire, though some of these 



were singing with tie- rest; and in this respect, as well as in 

 their whole .bearing, mode ul' It ■.■ding and behavior toward 

 each other, they might hay.- been the" familiar objects of my 

 boyhood's home, iu the Past, instead of the ornithological 

 prizes that thev were. Observing all these points to my satis- 

 faction, and feeling no little elation ou the discovery of a 

 bird new to me, I secured several specimens before the flock 

 dispersed m face of my perseeinixi. 



Later iu the course of such pursuits I had satisfied ruyselt 

 that Cassin's purple finches were common birds in the portion 

 of Arizona where 1 then resided. This was entirely within 

 their breeding range; and, although I nevertook a nest, there 

 eould be no doubt of their nesting about Fort Whipple. 

 Comparing my own observations with those of others, it 

 seems that the' bird is neither abundant nor universally dis- 

 tributed in thiit Territory, where the lower arid portions 

 afford no congenial home, but that it may be looked for with 

 every probability of success iu I he mountain ranges, at any 

 elevation, 11 seems to prefer the coniferous tracts at most. 

 times of the year, but may be found on the hillsides amid 

 scrub oak, red cedar and pifiou, as well as aloug the ravines 

 where the Solir and Pupitbix give sign of living water. Dr. 

 i looper d..es not appear to have fouud it at Fort Mojave, nor 

 do f remember to have Been any during my delightful boat 

 vovage down the Colorado and up again, between the point 

 just named and Fort Yuma, at the mouth of the Gila. It is 

 not noted among Hie results of Mr. Heushaw's collecting in 

 Arizona, though he observed it in numbers about the, Pueblo 

 of Zuni, in New Mexico, as well as in Southern Colorado. 



The general distribution of Cassin's purple finch has been 

 determined with some precision, though doubtless some 

 details remain for future observers to fill in. Southward the 

 bird has been traced aloug the tablelands of Mexico as far 

 as Orizaba, where, on the mountain of the same name, Mr. 

 Francis E. Sumichrast is reported to have secured it. In the 

 opposite direction it is accredited to British Columbia by 

 Mr. John Keast Lord. On various of his expeditions, Dr. F. 

 Y, Hayden has shown its presence iu different portions of 

 the Rocky Mountains, giving us the most northeasterly ad- 

 vices we have thus far received Westward the bird cer- 

 ,, i, . ,,-s to the Cascade Range, and the eastern slope of 

 the Sierras Nevadas, but whether or not if actually reaches 

 the Pacific coast remains to be determined, Intheregion 

 thus bounded, Cassin's finch is migratory to a certain extent, 

 but liable I o be fouud at any season of the sear iu suitable 

 situations; its breeding range, aud the extent of its winter 

 resorts so largely over-lapping. For the surface ol the 

 country it inhabits is so varied iu elevation and m other 

 physical characters, that a remove of a few miles may In- 

 come, in .me cases, equivalent lo the whole of the migra- 

 tion, which some individuals of its Eastern cousin perform, 

 The wooded parts Of I'kih ami Nevada, of Eastern Califor 



nia and Northern New Mexico, and Arizona, appear to rep- 

 resent the area of its principal dispersion. 



Two eggs of Cassin's purple Much, now in tic Naii d 



Museum, were taken June 88, ISO!), in Parley's Park, trail, 

 by Mr. Uidgway, while attached to the Survey df the Fortieth 

 Parallel. They arc indistinguishable from those of the 

 Eastern purple'linch; in fact, they might have come out of 

 the same nest with gome of those of 0, pUiyumt* [have 

 described, for any difference that I can perceive. Tiny 

 may however, be "found to average a trifle larger, when sul- 

 ficfent numbers are compared. Boifte very pal 

 occur, as in the case of (.'. purpiuriis. and immai ul; ■■ p. 



may be expected to turn up. The eggs of Ibis species, 

 assbpposed by Dr. Brewer, and described by him as such in 

 the Boston Society's proceedings (xvi. 1873, 109), were 

 wrongly identified, being from Capt. Bendire'.s collections, 

 and belonging lo C. frontiil.-is. According to Mr. T. M. Trippo. 

 ( 'assin's finch is abundant in portions of Colorado, where it 

 breeds, and where a few pass the winter in sheltered places 

 among the mountains, though the greater number pass 

 southward. He found them in early spring hauntir " ' 



illow hi 

 afterward in pine WOO 

 elevation of 10,000 fee 



Our best advices res 

 Bidgway. wdio had a 

 bird during the breed 

 mountains, and othc 



JSt ot tin 



3 thev in 



iiountain streams; 

 . sometimes a I an 



.eeiiug the nidifieation are from Mr. 

 umlaut opportunities of studying the 

 ig season in the Wahsateh and "East 

 places iu If! ah and Nevada. _ This 

 gentleman gives us memoranda of a number of nests which he 

 found— one in a box-elder bush, at an altitude of 7,000 feel; 

 another in the top of a cotton wood; and several in aspens 

 along the streams. The eggs in these cases being two to Ave 

 in number, though oftcnest three to four. "In certain lo- 

 calities on the eastern slope of the Buby Mountains they (the 

 birds) were quite abundant on several occasions, the flocks 

 consisting chiefly of young of the year, which, with their par- 

 ents, had apparently come from the higher couifcrous woods 

 near the summit of the range, since no nest, were fouud 

 amoug the cedar and pifiou groves of the lower slopes. In 

 the pine belt, of the Wahsateh and Uintah mountains they 

 wore abundant from May to August, during the whole of 

 which time they were, nesting. Many of the nest? found 

 were among the aspens and narrow denied cotton woods 

 iPripii/ns Inmidj/uk-s and P. (Ui'pixli folia) of the higher por- 

 tions of the ravines, where these 'trees replaced the conifers." 

 One of the nests secured by Mr. Bidgway from the top of a 

 cotlouwood forty feet high is described by Dr. Brewer as a 

 soft homogeneous structure, flattened and' with but slight 

 cavity, tour and a half inches across by two deep, composed 

 chiefly of roots and twigs, liued with similar materials, inter- 

 spersed with moss anil other soft substances. 



INTERESTING PETS. 



POSSIBLY a brief sketch of my two pets might be of 

 interest to some of your readers who are fond of natural 

 history. 



Dear old Solomon Blink was a great brown and white 

 horned owl of whom I was the fortunate (or perhaps tin* 

 fortunate) possessor during the past summer. He came into 

 mv bauds in this wise. His fondness for young chicken 

 led him into a neighbor's back yard one night last summer, 

 The family hearing an outci y. came out and found him en- 

 gaged iiia Struggle willi the mother hen who WHS trying 

 'bra\elv lo d, -feud her brood. His feet were entangled iu a 

 string by which the hen was fastened, and he was thus 

 easily secured. Thinking to keep him a few days to please 

 the children, they fastened a stout fishing line, lo his leg and 

 tied him where lie could perch in a tree. Tins did very well 

 tor a day or two, wTien he managed to bile or break it off, 

 aud was" making his escape. One. of the boys discovered him, 

 and shot at him. The shot brought him down, though not 

 seriously injuring him, merely wingtipping him and cutting 

 Off I he end of a toe. After this he was kept ■ confined in a 

 large box, until, for ti small consideration, he was transferred 

 to me, 1 thinking to keep him if he would live or mount 

 him if he died. 



It was a rather difiioull proceeding to remove him from 

 the box and fasten him out with a dog chain, and could only 

 be accomplished when we had thrown a thick cloth over 

 him; even then he inflicted some pretty severe scratches with 

 his sharp talons. 



We were careful about approaching him for a few days. 

 but he soon ceased to offer any remonstrances, aud would 

 eveu allow us to stroke his "head, and seem to enjoy if. 

 though if his back were touched he would immediately snap 

 at one. 



Through the day he would sit ou his perch, apparently 

 asleep, but ou close observation it would be found that he 

 almost always kept the right eye opeu, just enough to peep. 

 I never saw him so sound asleep that, should a strange dog 

 come within a rod of him, he would not immediately open 

 wide those magnificent golden orbs, fluff out his feat b •■; 

 until he looked as large as the head of a barrel, elevate his 

 horns, hiss aud snap his beak with a noise like bone castanets, 

 while the poor clog would drop his tail and leave for parts 

 unknown, when Mr. Blink would calmy resume his dozing. 



When wet he was a dreadful looking creature. He seemed 

 about all eyes and beak aud claws, with scarcely any body. 



He would eat anything in the way of fresh meat— dead 

 mica-, rats, chickens.' ducks, snakes, fish aud beef. He pre- 

 ferred to swallow everything whole if possible, and always 

 crushed the head first. One day a dead duck, almost as 

 large as a gosling, was given him. He tried for almost half 

 au hour to swallow it whole, throwing his head back and 

 making frantic efforts to do so, but did not succeed. 

 He then took it in his talons and tore it in 

 nieces. When given a rat he always tore its head off before 

 proceeding to eat it. He was always on the lookout lot 

 birds, and wdieu one came near enough would regard it with 

 great interest. Twice he caught a full grown chicken ' 

 had ventured too Close, and he would iu no wise loosen his 

 hold at our approach; clubs, sticks, and even cold water 

 dashed in his face were alike unavailing, and we were 

 obliged to tear the poor fowl from his cruel talons by main 



Stepping out one morning, I came upon I lie remain I 

 Chicken, and wondering what had been making a raid in the 

 poultry yani, I passed on to an open coop where some of the 

 young chickens still slept. There I beheld a spectacle in- 

 deed. There, proud monarch of all he surveyed, stood Mr. 

 Blink while arr.uud him lay a half dozen more Chickens 

 that he had slain, seemingly' from thu mere love of killing, 

 as he w T as not eating, aud of course could not possibly have 

 eaten halt the number he had killed. Home of them he had 

 neatly decapitated, and others he had killed by a single 

 I thrust of his booked bill in the back of ihe head. O' the 



