1304 
REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. 
tenant M. *M. Macomb, to which I was attached for the season, left Carson on the 15th 
of September, and from that date till the termination of my field-work, except a period 
of ten days from November 10 to the 20th, which I spent at Carson, 1 was occupied in 
4 the immediate vicinity of Lake Tahoe, or in the mountains lying contiguous to it. It 
will thus be seen that the season’s results fall under two distinct heads, according as 
they were obtained in the valleys to the east of and adjoining the main chain, or were 
derived from observations in the mountains. In presenting lists of the birds observed, 
with such notes as I was able to gather, I have thus divided them. In connection with 
my work it is pleasant to be able to speak of the assistance and co-operation so cordially 
extended to me by the officer in charge, as well as by the remaining members of the 
party. Furthermore, I have to gratefully acknowledge the substantial assistance re¬ 
ceived from Mr. H. G. Parker, of Carson City, Nev., not only in the shape of rare birds, 
the results of his enthusiastic labors, but also for much information concerning the 
haunts of birds, which his thbrough acquaintance with the country enabled him to 
supply. 
By the last week in August such of the birds as still remained in the neighborhood, 
and which do not winter here, had either congregated in docks or were in the act of 
assembling, preparatory for their departure in search of a more congenial winter cli¬ 
mate; while not a few of the less hardy species, as the tauagers, orioles, grosbeaks, 
&c., had already taken their leave|'hence a very considerable number of species that 
are common to the region as summer visitants were not seen at all by us; from which 
fact it results that our list of the birds noticed during the season is very far from being 
a complete enumeration of the actual number of species belonging to this region. 
The valley, on the west side of which Carsou City is situated, does not possess, owing 
to the almost complete absence of timber, the natural characteristics which serve to 
attract a great number of species of birds. 
Along the banks of the Carson River, and fringing the borders of the other small 
streams, especially where they debouch from the mountains, isfouud a limited amount 
of shrubbery, which serves to invite and give shelter to the species that usually fre¬ 
quent similar localities. The remainder of the valley, not lying close enough to the 
streams to admit of irrigation and cultivation, is clothed only and everywhere 
with sage-brush and grease-wood, and is inhabited by but a limited number of the 
feathered tribe. The foot-hills aud eastern faces of the mountains immediately over¬ 
looking the Washoe and Carson Valleys were formerly covered with a dense pine 
forest, which closely hemmed in the valleys. Within a few years this has been en¬ 
tirely swept away, leaving the hills comparatively, and in some places absolutely, 
denuded of vegetation. As a consequence, most of the wood-loving species that 
formerly extended down to, or even into, the valleys, have retreated upward, and 
now only appear below as occasional stragglers, or in winter. 
The avifauna of the region about Carson, the mountains being excluded, offers to 
our notice little or nothing that is peculiar, or that will serve to distinguish it from 
that much farther to the eastward. In fact, a large proportion of the forms are those 
common to the interior province generally, of which the entire eastern portion of Ne¬ 
vada may be regarded as an integral part. • 
It is only when we je/vye thtriplabis and low open valleys, and ascend into the foot¬ 
hills, that we begin to meet with any well-marked change in the aspect of the bird- 
life. This cbaDge is U somewhat abrupt one, and is quite strictly coincident with the 
line of demarkation between the valleys and the elevated foot-hills, being hence chielly 
indicated by s he presence of such species as are pre-eminently mountain forms. Thus 
iu the shrubbery skirting the foot-hills, and in the ravines, we find the California jay 
(Cyanocitta var. caUfornica.) Reaching the foot-hills the mountain-quail begins to be 
numerous.* Still higher up the shrubbery of the mountains was found to be the home 
of the curious Thick-billed sparrow ( Passer ell a var. meg ary ncha.) It is, however, in 
the pine region proper that the change becomes most marked. 
Here are found Tardus usiulatus ; Cyanura var. frontalis ; Selasporus rufus ; Sphyrap- 
icus ruber and Ficus albolarvatus. 
All of the above species are found as regular summer inhabitants of this region, 
while the woodpeckers and jays are constant residents. 
From the occurrence of these species, which may be regarded as belonging essentially 
to the Pacific province, along this, the eastern slope of the Sierra Range, we may safely 
draw the line which shall divide the middle from the Pacific province at the foot of 
the eastern slope of the mountains, and consider this slope of the main chain as belong¬ 
ing, so far as its avian fauna is concerned, to the Pacific proviuee.t 
*As ascertained by Mr. Ridgway, this species is found somewhat farther to the east¬ 
ward, reaching the mountains by means of the connecting foot-hills. The flocks ap¬ 
pear, however, to be little else than stragglers, and with the eastern slope of the main 
chain this bird ceases to bo common, and the species is soon lost altogether. 
^ t 1 wo ot the mammals found by us along this slope also point to the same conclusion . 
The large Spermopilusinstead ot being the interior form grarnmurus is the var. beechyie 
ot the Pacific province. Similarly the small Soiurus is douglasii instead of richardsoui. 
