July, 1912 NOTES ON WADING BIRDS OF BARR LAKE REGION, COLORADO 
125 
bar leading to it from the shore (as the water was now very low). The seven 
were typical nests, built in the zone of pig'-weed and young cockle-burrs exactly 
like those of the preceding year ; while the one on the sand-bar was a neat depres- 
sion in the sand well lined with grass. There was not a oarticle of veeetation or 
cover on the sand-bar, but on account of their coloration the eggs were very in- 
conspicuous, even in their exposed position. On this occasion the birds were very 
noisy and demonstrative and we located the nests readily by their actions. 
On June 14 we found that two of the nests had been destroyed, some bird 
having pecked small holes in the eggs. All the other nests had either hatched 
or been destroyed as we did not find either nest or young. On June 19 we found 
another nest of four eggs on the island but still no sign of young birds, and on 
June 27 this nest was found to have been destroyed as the others had been. We 
finally concluded that the mischief must have been done by a good-sized flock 
of non-breeding Ring-billed Gulls which made the island their headquarters. 
The birds remained until the latter part of October, well into the hunting 
season, and their large size, conspicuous coloration and absolute lack of fear of 
firearms made them 'easy prey for the thoughtless hunters who frequented- the 
lakes. 
Gallinago delicata. Wilson Snipe. 
Up to very recent years the published records of Wilson Snipe as a breeding 
bird of Colorado, were confined to four records : that of Drew who found it 
breeding in San Juan County (B. N. O. C. iv, 1881. 85) : that of W. E. D. Scott 
who found it breeding at Twin Lakes, Lake County, at 9,000 feet ( B. N. O. C. iv, 
1879, 92; and that of Aiken at the San Luis Lakes at 7500 feet elevation and that 
of Sprague (Cooke) at 9000 feet in the Middle Park. All of these records are 
Transition and Canadian zone records, and the first two at least are of such an 
indefinite nature that it is a question whether nests were actually found or 
whether the breeding record was based only upon the presence of the birds dur- 
ing the nesting season. 
From 1905 to 1909 Fred kl. Dille found several nests near Altoona, Boulder 
County, dose to the foothills and at an elevation of about 5500 feet. As these 
sets were taken just inside the Transition zone, the single nest which we found 
at Barr June 20, 1908, is, so far as I know, the first breeding record for the 
species within the Upper Sonoran zone of Colorado. 
This peculiar bird occurs regularly though not commonly at Barr through- 
out the nesting season, and the fact that more nests have not been found may no 
doubt be attributed alone to lack of field work. In fact we encountered several 
pairs of birds which we were reasonably sure were nesting, but we were suc- 
cessful in one instance only. 
This nest was located on (and above) the surface of slightly damp ground at 
the edge of a good sized area of very soft, boggy land formed by the seepage 
under the dike of the Big Barr Lake. It was built in the center of a tussock of 
grass about eight inches in length and was a very neat, well shaped and cupped 
nest composed entirely of fine dry grass. In construction it was far superior to 
any shore bird’s nest I have ever seen, being so compactly and -strongly put to- 
gether that it was possible to remove it from the nesting site without injury. In 
general appearance the nest itself is not unlike certain sparrows’ nests. 
It was not particularly well concealed ; in fact from above it was cpiite con- 
spicuous. The bird flushed when we were about fifteen feet away and made quite 
