May, 1905 | 
MIDWINTER BIRDS ON THE MOJAVE DESERT 
73 
work among tbe crevices of the cottonwood bark, but they were seldom seen, their 
faint notes being the principal evidence of their presence. Mountain chickadees, 
which one naturally associates with mountains and coniferous trees, were quite 
numerous, their cheery song being heard even under the most unfavorable weather 
conditions. An active company was frequently encountered among the cotton- 
woods busily engaged in their usual business of hunting up food, their utter fear- 
lessness showing in strong contrast to the timidity of many of the other species. 
Intermediate sparrows and Sierra juncos were very numerous in places along 
the railroad, the former as usual making it exasperating work for the collector to 
single out and pursue any other species in their vicinity. The intermediates were 
sure to scatter in all direct- 
more than seemed necessary 
to establish the identity of 
the majority However, it 
was our good fortune to cap- 
ture a few specimens of the 
slate-colored junco. The 
records of this eastern race 
have become so numerous 
for southern California, that we must begin to consider it a regular winter visitant, 
rather than a casual or “accidental” one. The taking of two orange-crowned 
warblers leads to similar views. It is scarcely possible that we came across every 
individual in the vicinity during our short stay, but on the contrary it is reason- 
able to assume that we saw but a small proportion of the total number of these 
birds so seldom met with in California, and that thorough investigation would 
show them to be fairly common in this part of the State. 
The capture of three horned owls was a great piece of good fortune, but we 
were disappointed in not finding any screech or pigmy owls in this locality, though 
of course any bird taken here in midwinter might have come down the river from 
ions and mix up with any- 
thing else that happened to 
be near them. The juncos, 
too, were somewhat disturb- 
ing for the reason that we 
always felt there might be 
some unsuspected subspecies 
among them; and yet we 
were always loth to destroy 
TREE YUCCAS. SHOWING THINNESS 
OF DESERT BRUSH 
