26 
THE CONDOR 
VOL. XII 
Moffat, greasewood or chico ( Scircobatus ) began to appear; below Moffat it in 
many places entirely replaced the other shrub. At Moffat we came to the artesian 
well belt, where every ranch boasts its own artesian well. I cannot say I cared 
much for the water at most of these wells, for it was usually strongly charged with 
sulphur, smelling strongly of H 2 S. However, even sulphur water beats going 
without, and has the reputation of being healthy. But the mules turned up their 
noses at it, and would hardly taste it. At Moffat the wind was blowing a gale, 
and there were but few birds about, and especially few, as immediately about the 
town, near which we camped so as to have the benefit of one of the aforesaid wells, 
there was but little brush, it being mostly grass land. 
At Moffat I took my first specimen of the San Luis Pocket Gopher, Thomomys 
talpoides agrestis , recently described by Merriam from a type taken by Merritt 
Cary at the Medano ranch; and on the way to Hooper the next day the first Cary’s 
Chipmunks were seen, also described by Merriam from type taken at the same lo- 
cality as the gopher. But of these I secured no specimens that day; they were the 
liveliest things of the sort I ever ran across, and almost invariably took to their 
heels as soon as the wagon hove in sight, and disappeared in the brush. Carv had 
written me that he had instructed his namesakes to keep out of the way of all 
collectors, and I could well believe it from their actions. 
From Moffat to Hooper and Mosca, at which latter place w r e arrived at noon of 
the 17th, we had the same sandy soil, and greasewood and rabbit brush, w r ith a cer- 
tain amount of cultivated land, mostly between Hooper and Mosca. The charac- 
teristic birds of this region were Sage Thrashers and Brewer’s Sparrows, as well as 
Horned Larks. The morning of the 18th w 7 e drove to the lakes, making camp 
about noon near a small lake a few hundred yards north of the large or San Luis 
Lake. There -was an artesian well here with w 7 ater which did not have quite as 
much sulphur as some of them. Here we stayed until the morning of the 21st, and 
explored the country about the lakes. It is certainly a peculiar place in some w 7 ays. 
There are low sandy hills all about, and among these are the lakes, many of them 
so hidden that one is not aware of their presence until he comes upon them sudden- 
ly on going over one of these hills. Even the large lake, a mile or more in length, 
and half as wide, is thus hidden from most points. Its shores were barren and 
sandy, and it was not much frequented by the water birds, though there w T ere al- 
ways some there. The small lakes and ponds scattered about here and there were 
those most frequented by the w 7 aterfowd, though I must say that we were rather 
disappointed on the whole w'ith the number of such birds seen, for we had expected 
a much greater amount of life of this sort. However, we spent one or tw 7 o after- 
noons, or portions thereof, with much interest, w 7 atching birds about the water. 
Some of the small ponds w 7 ere partly dried up, and showed much alkali about their 
shores, others had but little. Outside of the water birds, not many birds were 
found here. 
The morning of the 21st, w r e moved camp to the Medano Ranch, a few 7 miles 
away, and still in the lake region, and remained here until July 5. This ranch is 
owned by a company, and has a very large acreage, several square miles I should 
think, and is entirely devoted to hay. The meadows, at the time we were there, w 7 ere 
mostly being irrigated, and w 7 ere alive with mosquitos, which were also abundant about 
the houses and camp; and, to make things a little more interesting, there w 7 ere 
sw 7 arins of little gnats almost too small to see, and horseflies altogether too easy to 
see, and to feel w 7 hen they tried to bite a chunk out of one’s face or hand. And 
the sun shining on the light-colored sandy soil made it so hot that our faces burnt 
and peeled. Verily, the life of a naturalist in the field is not always a happy one ! 
