6 
Annual Reports of Academy of 
Here a large part of our collecting was done and a more delight¬ 
ful camping ground could hardly be imagined. Birds were abun¬ 
dant. Cassin’s kingbird and the black-headed grosbeak had nests 
in the oaks above our tents and the diminutive elf owl, Micropallas 
whitneyi, the smallest owl in the world, came about the cabin 
in the evening, while Gambel’s quail, named after its discoverer 
Dr. William Gambel a former Secretary of this Academy, ran about 
in groups feeding among the fallen leaves. Troops of Arizona jays 
skulked about in the trees ever ready to give warning in harsh 
cries whenever we sallied forth; ant-eating woodpeckers perched 
silently on the tops of dead oak trees while at night both the Step¬ 
hens' whippoorwill and the poor will called continually from just 
behind our camp. 
There were numerous conspicuous yellow' composites in bloom 
in early summer over the floor of the canyon, brilliant scarlet 
painted cups too and acres of blue lupines, and immense yellow 
primroses, while in the bed of the almost dry stream grew' beds of 
golden yellow' Mimulus with large, pale, yellow columbines scattered 
along the banks. The purple-flowered Arizona locust W'as the most 
showy of the trees, though a wdld cherry, similar to our eastern 
species, was also conspicuous, and the great spherical tufts of 
greenish yellow mistletoe like birds’ nests, scattered along the 
branches of both oaks and pines, at once attracted the attention of 
a stranger. 
Here too, scattered patches of alfalfa in full bloom attracted hordes 
of butterflies and other insects, and later, when the scarlet Penste- 
mons came into blossom, hummingbirds of several species were al¬ 
most alw'ays present. Late in June w'e moved our camp some two 
miles farther up the canyon to an elevation of about 6500 feet, at 
the end of the old wagon trail constructed by early settlers, many 
of whom lie beneath rough stone piles in the scrub nearby, victims 
of the Apaches wdio found in these mountains their last stronghold. 
About our tents at this upper camp came birds that we had not en¬ 
countered farther dowm, notably the painted redstart, similar in 
habits to our eastern bird but with a much striking color combina¬ 
tion of jet black, crimson-red and W'hite, and the sulphur-bellied 
flycatcher, both Mexican species W'hich cross the line only in these 
southern desert mountains. 
