Nov., 1914 EFFECTS OF IRRIGATION ON BIRD LIFE IN WASHINGTON 
253 
the sage brush, but real prosperity has come most markedly to the Mourning 
Dove and the Meadowlark. Each year for the past three years two pairs of 
doves have nested on my forty acres, at which rate for the 62,000 acres of the 
entire tract there would be 6200 doves. This past year four pairs of Meadow- 
larks nested on my ranch simultaneously, which would indicate for the entire 
tract 12,400 Meadowlarks. 
Among the species previously limited to the river banks and thickets the 
following have taken advantage of the extended mesophytic condition and 
have variously profited accordingly. The Killdeer has noisily laid claim to 
every puddle of waste water, and has taken advantage of every barnyard. 
Nesting observations indicate a population of about 6000 for the entire tract. 
The Arkansas Kingbird, without waiting for suitable nesting sites, has tempo- 
rarily built his nest on the electric poles and hay derricks. Though one of the 
most conspicuous species, nest data would indicate a total population of not 
over 1000 individuals. The Eastern Kingbird is about one-tenth as abundant 
as the Arkansas, and Say Phoebe is less common yet. Bullock Oriole is an- 
other species restricted by suitable nesting sites. It does not nest in young 
orchards, but every poplar windbreak has from one to half a dozen nests. A 
thousand individuals would be a fair estimate. Of the species of blackbirds 
found along the river. Brewer is the only one which has spread. It is a com- 
mon dooryard bird, and with the exception of the robin is the species most 
friendly to man. It nests in weeds along all the larger ditches, also in colonies 
in the greasewood along the river, and in bushes and vines about farm houses. 
It is the third most- abundant species, with at least 10,000 individuals. The 
Song Sparrow is the second most abundant species, running close to the Mea- 
dowlark in point of numbers. Because of its peculiar habit of nesting near 
water, giving it an irregular distribution, its numbers are less easily computed, 
but there are at least 10,000 on the entire tract. The Bank Swallow has occu- 
pied the cuts along the forty miles of main canal with a total number of prob- 
ably 2000 ; and the Eobin is nesting in the door yards and young orchards, 
with a total of about 2000 individuals. 
The following species are common but have not appeared yet in numbers 
sufficient to estimate them: — Flicker, Nighthawk, Black-chinned and Rufous 
Hummingbirds, Say Phoebe, Pale Goldfinch, Western Savannah Sparrow, 
Western Lark Sparrow, Western Chipping Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting and Moun- 
tain Bluebird. 
In the lower parts of this irrigated tract many ponds were formed by 
seepage and waste irrigating water. Their banks were sown by the wind- 
blown tule seed, making a habitat quickly occupied by the following species : — 
American Black Tern, Cinnamon Teal, Shoveller Duck, Coot, Marsh Hawk, 
Yellow-headed Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird and Interior Tule Wren. 
These species, from what I can learn, thrived about these ponds for about 
ten years, but last winter all the ponds were drained, driving the birds back 
to their former haunts about the permanent ponds in the river bottoms. 
The following species found along the river, except as occasionally forag- 
ing over the irrigated land, have remained unaffected by the changed condi- 
tions: — Great Blue Heron, Spotted Sandpiper, Sharp-shinned, Red-tailed and 
Sparrow Hawks, Kingfisher, Magpie, Black-headed Jay, Spurred Towhee, 
Yellow Warbler and Western Yellowthroat. 
The English Sparrow has followed man in, and is now common in the 
towns. The Ring-necked Pheasant {Phasianus iorquatus) and the Bob- white 
