38 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. IV 
rocks beyond the limits of the camp. 
On a previous trip in July, when the 
thermometer registered 120 degrees in 
the shade and the rocks were so heated 
that one could not hold the bare hand 
upon them, these birds worked over 
them as unconcernedly as in winter. 
On October 28 I saw a western black 
phoebe {Scxyornis nigricans semiatra) in 
a side canj^on close to camp. 
On the 29th several j uncos ( Jiinco 
Iivenialis thurberi') flew from the rear of 
the store when I approached, where 
they had been inspecting some sweep- 
ings and went up the same .side canyon. 
This same side canyon, by the way, 
was the only place where I succeeded 
in getting specimens of this bird. They 
would keep along the bottom of this 
wash beyond reach, but by concealing 
myself and firing one barrel of the gun 
the echoes would so confuse the birds 
that one was sure to fly within ran^e 
of the other barrel. The j uncos were 
in camp ever}^ day of my stay but I 
never saw more than six at one time. 
October 30 I saw two intermediate 
sparrows, (Z. 1 . gambeli) at the outlet of 
kitchen drain. They would dodge 
under a flat-growing weed a few feet 
away and peer out. If I made no 
motion, one of them a young bird of the 
year with browm stripes on the crown, 
would come out and hop about the 
moist spot, but the old bird with w'hite 
stripes was always shy, in fact I only 
saw^ it for one daj^ although the 
other remained ten days. The store- 
keeper called my attention to a wren 
that had come in the open door and 
caged itself among the rafters. It had 
no white superciliary stripe, so I took 
it to be the Parkman wren. 
Nov. I, three ravens {Corvns corax 
sixinains) flew along just under the top 
of the ridge south of camp. Once after 
that I saw two others flying along the 
same route, and again on Nov. ii when 
they changed their couise and flew 
down the side canyon, over the mule 
corral and the mexican quarter and 
back again, resuming their w^estward 
flight along the ridge. Nov. 2, a Say 
phoebe {Sayorxiis saya) remained about 
camp all day and again on the 13th I 
saw it on the slope of the southern 
ridge. A small hawk, about twice the 
size of our desert sparrow hawk circled 
over camp twice and then departed 
towards the river through the reservoir 
gap. On the 13th, a mourning dove 
[Zenaidnra macroura) came swiftly up 
the gulcli, alighted at the drain a few 
moments, and departed as quickly in 
the direction of the river. 
In July I have seen several turkey 
vultures {Catharies aura) sail over 
camp, coming from the river and going 
towards the Golden Cross mine, where 
a horse or mule is sometimes hauled 
out for them to feast upon, a rather 
difficult task in this dry region where a 
carcass is more apt to dry up than to 
decay. The above includes all the 
birds seen in the desolate region men- 
tioned, during over three weeks obser- 
vation. 
On Nov. 4 I drove down to the pump- 
ing plant situated at the other end of 
the pipe line, on the California side of 
the Colorado River, one and one-half 
miles above the Mexican boundary and 
.some ten miles below Yuma. No birds 
were seen until among the brush- 
studded sand dunes which lie between 
the real desert and the rank growth of 
the moist river bottom. Here a lot of 
phainopeplas {PJiainopela nitens) had 
congregated on the palo verde and 
mesquite which grew in the washes. 
We arrived at the plant at dusk, and 
in order not to disturb the domestic ar- 
rangements of the engineer, spread our 
blankets on the sand among the nies- 
quite near the river bank. The next 
morning, (Nov. 5,) at first streak of 
dawn I was awakened by a tremendous 
clucking and chatter, coming from the 
other side of the clump of mesquite, 
not ten feet away. It proved to be a 
flock of forty to fifty ganibel partridges 
{Lophortyx gambeli) on their morning 
foray along the river bank. There was 
no sleep after that, so I spent a couple 
