76 
THE CONDOR 
1 VOL. V 
giant cactuses and other species of cactuses were scattered over the mesas. 
To avoid the canyons on the lower part of the Bill Williams River the little- 
travelled road swings out on the desert southward and westward and comes to the 
Colorado River below the mouth of the former stream. From here we drove down 
the Colorado Valley about eighty miles, crossing the Colorado River at Ehrenberg. 
We spent the first eighteen days of August in the river bottoms, which carry a 
scattering growth of mesquite away from the river, and thickets of willow mixed 
with a smaller quantity of cottonwoods near the river banks. On the mesa east of 
the river were more or less giant cactuses, but we did not see a single plant of this 
species on the Californian side of the river. Birds were less plentiful in the Colo- 
rado Valley than I had expected and at this late date were mostly moulting. The 
heat wms great, reaching 119° in the shade of August first, and collecting was not 
a comfortable task. 
From the Colorado River we followed the old, long-abandoned stage route 
westward across the Chuckawalla Desert, a disagreeable sandy drive of eighty 
miles to the next house, and with but one water, at Chuckawalla Spring, midway. 
Then we crossed the Colorado Desert via Salton, and were well pleased to get into 
the coast mountains after spending nearly four months in the hot deserts with but 
two breathing spells in the mountains. 
As collecting mammals was the principal object of the trip I made few bird 
skins, and omitted taking several species that since have proved desirable, hence 
in a few cases there is a little doubt as to the particular subspecies seen. 
The migration being practically over when I entered the region the following 
list contains few species not resident therein and most of these are noted as mi- 
grants in the text. 
Podilymbus podiceps. Pied-billed Grebe. Saw one in a lagoon below Ehren- 
berg. 
Larus sp. At Ehrenberg I saw a small flock of medium-sized gulls passing 
down river near the opposite bank. 
Phalacrocorax sp. Below Ehrenberg I saw several cormorants standing on a 
snag in a lagoon. Later others flew past at a distance. 
Mareca americana. Baldpate. One shot from a small flock near Ehrenberg. 
Querquedula discors. Blue-winged Teal. Shot two and saw others on a 
lagoon near Ehrenberg. 
Querquedula cyanoptera. Cinnamon Teal. Saw a pair near Needles in June. 
Plegadis guarauna. White-faced Glossy Ibis. Saw a small flock of migrants 
at Whitewater Ranch, San Gorgonio Pass, May 15. 
Tantalus loculator. Wood Ibis. Saw two near Needles in June; an immature 
bird at Bill Williams River the last of July; and large flocks in the lagoons below 
Ehrenberg in August. They were not shy and were feeding in the shallower 
parts of the lagoons, wading about where the water was but a few inches deep. 
Ardea herodias. Great Blue Heron. Seen several times along the shores of 
the Colorado River. Not common. 
Ardea virescens anthonyi. Anthony Green Heron. I saw quite a number 
along the Colorado River and Big Sandy Creek, mostly young of the year. 
Nycticorax nycticorax naevius. Black-crowned Night Heron. Seen and heard 
along the Colorado River in June and August. 
Fulica americana, American Coot. Saw but few and only on lagoons near 
the Colorado River. 
