REPORTS OF FIELD WORK 
21 
A few men under the command of Captain Taplin left the main party at the mouth 
of Delaware Creek, March 9, 1854, and proceeding east and a little north crossed 
the boundary line into Texas, March 11, 1854, about 20 miles north of the south¬ 
eastern corner of New Mexico, continuing thence east to the headwaters of the 
Colorado River, which they struck at a place about 30 miles northwest of the present, 
town of Big Spring. On the general map of the Pacific Railroad Survey routes, this 
route traveled by Captain Taplin is marked as made by Lieutenant Gerrard who was 
sent a few days later, April 4-11, to make a topographical survey of the route. This 
expedition was accompanied, at least part of the way, by the accomplished ornitho¬ 
logist, Dr. T. C. Henry, and when the specimens of birds collected by Captain Pope’s 
expedition were sent to Washington they were supplemented by several hundred 
specimens collected in New Mexico by Dr. Henry, making one of tfyc largest bird 
collections secured during the Pacific Railroad surveys. Captain Pope’s report is 
entitled: Report of Exploration of a Route for the Pacific Railroad near the Thirty- 
second Parallel of North Latitude from the Red River to the Rio Grande (Rep. 
Surv. R. R. Pac. II. Rep. Bt. Capt. John Pope, etc., pp. 1-185, 1854). The bird 
notes are found in the “Diary of the Expedition,” by J. H. Byrne, pp. 50-93. 
1858-1860. William Wallace Anderson (1824-1911). 
As a surgeon in the regular army Dr. Anderson was stationed from 1858 to 1860 
at Camp Burgwyn, whence he sent two large collections of bird skins to the Smith¬ 
sonian Institution. 
1864. Elliott Coues (1842-1899). 
On his way to Arizona in 1864 Dr. Coues entered New Mexico from Colorado at 
Los Pinos by Raton Pass, going south to Albuquerque, near where he collected specie 
mens in June. Going west over the route now followed by the Santa Fe Railroad he 
collected near Fort Wingate, June 28-July 8, soon after which he passed into Arizona. 
The specimens collected were sent to the National Museum and some of the records 
were published as: Ornithology of a Prairie Journey, and Notes on the Birds of 
Arizona (Ibis, pp. 157-165, 1865, in which the New Mexico part occurs on pages; 
158-160). 
1873-1883. Henry Wetherbee Henshaw (1850- ). 
In connection with the Geographical and Geological Explorations and Surveys 
west of the onc-hundredth meridian, Henshaw after six weeks of collecting in the 
San Luis Valley, Colorado, entered New Mexico, July 2, 1873, along the Rio Grande. 
Ten days were spent on the Rio Grande. Subsequently Fort Wingate was reached, 
July 12. A week was occupied in collecting in the neighborhood of the fort, when 
the party moved on down the Rio Puerco into Arizona, remaining in that State until 
early in October when they recrossed into New Mexico and journeyed up the Gila 
to near the sources of Diamond Creek and the Mimbres, thence going northward until 
November 27, when they reached Fort Wingate, where they disbanded for the season. 
The report on the bird collections of this year was published in Report upon and 
List of Birds Collected by the Expedition for Geographical and Geological Explora¬ 
tions and Surveys West of the One-hundredth Meridian in 1S73. Lieut. G. M. 
Wheeler, Corps of Engineers, in charge. (Rep. Orn. Specimens. 1871-1873, pp. 55- 
148, 1874, in which the New Mexico birds are treated on pages 95-148.) 
The work of 1873 was continued in 1874 and the party, consisting of Henshaw, 
Dr. J. T. Rothrock, and J. M. Rutter, reached Santa Fe and collected specimens 
there for three weeks in June. They then traveled rapidly to Fort Wingate over 
the route followed the previous year, going to Arizona for the rest of the summer. 
The regular field work closed at Camp Apache the middle of October, but in Novem- 
