102 
THE CONDOR 
VOL. VI 
picked up in a dust wallow at Cottonwood. The general color was decidedly 
rusty. 
Centrocercus urophasianus. Sage Hen. A single specimen was seen by Dr. 
Merriain at the Cove and wounded with a revolver but it escaped. All the hunt- 
ers of the region speak of it as common among the sage. 
Zenaidura macroura. Mourning Dove. This form was met with all the 
way and often served to elaborate the camp menu. It was seen nesting in June in 
the fossil cliffs at the Cove. 
Cathartes aura. Turkey Vulture. Noted from the steamer on the Columbia 
and in the country just outside The Dalles, May 24. 
Falco s. phalcena. Desert Sparrow Hawk. Observed at Bridge Creek, June 6. 
Pandion h. carolinensis. Osprey. One of these birds was seen at Sherar’s 
Bridge on the Deschutes River, May 27, but it proved too wary to allow me 
within gunshot. I have noted this species in southern California on the Santa 
Ana River some sixty miles from the nearest large body of water, the so-called 
river being but a few inches deep. 
Bubo V. pacificus. Western Horned Owl. This big fellow found shelter in the 
caverns among the fossil beds, the darkness and seclusion of the deserted place 
being the delight of such as he. Abundant castings, containing the bones of 
rodents, were found. 
Megascops a. macfarlanei ? The familiar note of a screech owl was heard on 
the river at Cottonwood. June 17, at the cottonwood timber. 
Speotyto c. hypogaea. Burrowing Owl. Observed at Eight Mile Creek, 
May 25. 
Dryobates v. hyloscopus ? A single specimen observed at Lower Basin, 
June 27. 
Asyndesmus torquatus. Lewis Woodpecker. Seen from the train just out of 
Portland, May 20. Observed on dry sage hillside on Cherry Creek, May 31. 
Quite abundant on fence posts along Bridge Creek and in scrubby junipers at the 
base of the hill; evidently breeding in the junipers at the Cove, June 22. This 
bird was extremely shy at all times. One morning I spent an hour or more at 
sunrise in trying to stalk them in a small group of junipers at Bridge Creek but 
they acted as sentinels for each other and could not be approached. I do not un- 
derstand this extreme shyness as they seem to have no especial enemy aside from 
the collector and such was surely new to these birds. By stationing H. at one end 
of the juniper grove and making a drive of the birds one was finally taken. At 
Antoine on Rock Creek, at a much greater elevation, it was observed making ex- 
cursions into the air evidently in pursuit of insects; a few circles and then down 
again to its perch on a dead pine. 
Colaptes c. collaris. Red-shafted Flicker. Observed preparing a nest in the 
side of the fossil cliff at the Cove, June 23. Numerous smaller or larger holes oc- 
cur in the furrowed deposit often leading into larger caverns within. From one of 
these I flushed a flicker that acted in a very conscious manner, suggesting a nest 
at once. I could not climb to the place to make sure of the bird’s intentions nor 
note its work. On the following day, however, I found another hole likewise in- 
accessible, from which after the stimulus of a few well directed stones, there pro- 
ceeded the hissing squeak of young flickers, thus proving the flicker to have 
adapted itself to the treeless condition of the region. The species was quite abund- 
ant along the river at Lower Basin. 
Ceryle alcyon. Kingfisher. Observed at Eight Mile Creek, May 17, and at 
Rock Creek, June 14. 
