684 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
State Records. —A specimen of Evening Grosbeak was taken on June 3, 
1859, at Cantonment Burgwyn, 7,300 feet, but another specimen taken on June 
19, 1898, near Colorado Springs, Colorado, has" since been made the type of Iles- 
periphona vespertina warreni , which inhabits the southern Rocky Mountain region. 
Though widely distributed through the mountains of the State, except locally, 
at intervals, they are rare. The first eggs obtained in New Mexico were taken 
in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains a mile above Willis, at about 8,100 feet (Birtwell, 
1901, pp. 388-391). Here on June 5, 1901, both males and females were found 
common and noisy; the first nest was noted on June 20 and the eggs from this 
nest were taken on June 26, as also those from a neighboring nest. Two days 
later, in attempting to obtain the eggs from a third nest, Birtwell lost his life. 
The grosbeaks were apparently breeding in a colony, for there were other pairs 
present that seemed to be nesting, although their nests were not located. In the 
summer of 1903, this same place was visited by the Baileys, and at about 8,000 
feet the birds were common in flocks on July 19. Later, in August, they were 
found higher up, on Jack Creek, to 10,200 feet. In the Sacramento Mountains 
they were seen at Cloudcroft, 9,000 feet, on July 18, 1901, but all the sets of eggs 
so far reported are from a lower altitude and taken earlier in the season. Eggs 
have been taken on July 5, 1903, in Estes Park, Colorado; June 5, 1884, Springer- 
ville, Arizona; and June 1, 11, 12, 1909, in the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona. 
It is probable, therefore, that birds seen at high altitudes late in July and August 
had like many others wandered up after nesting. [Several pairs apparently mated 
were seen, April 25, 1919, by Ligon in Monument Park west of Chloride, at about 
7,800 feet, and others previously, on April 20, about 20 miles southwest, in Black 
Canyon.] On May 18, 1876, Stephens took specimens on the Gila that would 
have nested within a few weeks. [From May 30 to June 2, 1925, in the mountains 
about 15 miles northwest of El Rito, at an altitude of 9,000 feet, Jensen saw “Gros¬ 
beaks by the thousands, evidently preparing to nest in that country” (MS). On 
July 23, 1917, three, apparently adult and young, were seen by Ligon at 8,500 
feet on the east slope of Mount Taylor. Two birds were also noted by him, June 
24, 1919, about 25 miles southeast of Taos, at about 10,000 feet; and he found them 
“in considerable numbers,” June 21, 1924, in a canyon about 9 miles southeast 
of Taos, on the Taos-Cimarron highway, apparently nesting. A pair was found 
by Jensen carrying nesting materials, June 3, 1922, in Santa Fe Canyon at 7,500 
feet among Douglas firs. Three pairs were seen, June 3 and 10, 1928, by him, also in 
Santa Fe Canyon; and on June 10, perhaps four pairs were seen by Jensen, Ligon, 
and M. W. Talbot, several miles farther down the canyon. On June 17, the upper 
locality of the two, at about 8,200 or 8,300 feet, was searched by Jensen and Talbot, 
when a nest was finally located by Talbot, and its set of four eggs secured by Jensen. 
About the middle of July, 1928, several grosbeaks, “mostly in pairs,” were 
seen by Jensen in Santa Fe. On August 5, 1928, he estimated several hundreds 
distributed over the city. They presumably have no regular migration but wander 
irregularly over the country according to the variations in the food supply.! In 
different years they were noted by the Baileys, 3 miles south of Pecos on August 
25, 1903; a flock at Tierra Amarilla, September 11, and others at Lake La Jara, 
September 17, 1904; two at the lower edge of the pines in Santa Clara Canyon, 
August 20, 1906; a few in a yellow pine in the San Mateos, September 21, 1906; 
a flock of six in the Gallinas Mountains flying south, high overhead, October 11, 
1904. [Hundreds, attracted by box elder seeds, stayed in Santa Fe from August 
15 to September 20, 1926. After that, though not so numerous, they were still 
present until November 10 (Ligon). 1 
