571, ♀ ad., Camp Lowell, June 22.
61. =Loxia curvirostra mexicana= (_Strickl._) _Baird_. MEXICAN
CROSSBILL.—Chiricahua Mountains; most numerous on the eastern side.
Young just able to fly were taken March 7.
All of the following specimens are referable to true _mexicana_.
16, ♂ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 6. Length, 7.10; extent, 11.90;
wing, 4; tail, 2.73; culmen, .87.
17, ♀ ad., same locality and date. Length, 7.10; extent, 11.80; wing,
3.88; tail, 2.75; culmen, .85. “Iris dark brown. The jaw muscles were
extraordinarily developed on the side toward which the lower mandible
crossed.”
24, ♀ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 7. Length, 6.80; extent, 11.40;
wing, 3.70; tail, 2.52; culmen, .81.
25, ♀ juv., first plumage, same locality and date. This bird had been
out of the nest but a few days and the tips of the mandibles had not
begun to cross.
116, ♂ juv., first plumage, Chiricahua Mountains, March 26. Length,
6.90; extent, 12; wing, 4; tail, 2.75: culmen. .65. Wings and tail fully
grown; mandibles decidedly crossed.
62. =Chrysomitris psaltria= (_Say_) _Bp._ ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH.—“Common in
only a few localities. I have not found much difference among the
examples that occur here and have taken few that answered the
description of var. _arizonæ_. California specimens are almost identical
with those from New Mexico.”
130, ♂ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 30. Length, 4.50; extent,
7.80; wing, 2.65; tail, 1.90. “Iris brown.”
63. =Chrysomitris pinus= (_Wils._) _Bp._ PINE FINCH.—Common among the
Chiricahua Mountains.
20, ♂ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 7. Length, 5; extent, 8.90;
wing, 2.91; tail, 2.20.
128, ♂ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 29. Length, 4.90; extent,
8.60; wing, 2.96; tail, 2.14; “Iris dark brown.”
64. =Poœcetes gramineus confinis= _Baird_. WESTERN GRASS FINCH.—“Common
on prairies.”
The utility of recognizing this race of the Grass Finch seems to me
questionable, although the western bird certainly possesses slight
differential characters; these, however, are so largely comparative that
they are difficult of adequate description, and any one attempting to
determine examples by the books without the aid of large series of
specimens, will be likely to abandon the task in despair.
158, ♀ ad., Sulphur Spring Valley, April 4. Length, 6.20; extent, 10.20;
wing, 3.20; tail, 2.90.
164, ♂ ad., near Tombstone, April 5. Length, 6.40; extent, 10.80; wing,
3.35; tail, 3.04.
65. =Spizella socialis arizonæ= _Coues_. WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW.—Noted
only at Cave Creek. “A large flock; they keep much among trees.”
11, ♂ ad., Cave Creek, March 5. Length, 5.50; extent, 8.90. “Iris dark
brown; bill dark flesh-color; legs pale brownish.”
66. =Spizella breweri= _Cass._ BREWER’S SPARROW.—Four specimens, all
taken April 5, near Tombstone. Eight were killed by one shot into a
flock which had gathered about a water-hole, but they were in such
ragged plumage, owing to the progress of the spring moult, that half of
them had to be thrown away.
67. =Junco oregonus= (_Towns._) _Scl._ OREGON SNOWBIRD.—A single
specimen obtained March 5, on Cave Creek.
68. =Junco cinereus caniceps=[92] (_Woodh._) _Coues_. GRAY-HEADED
SNOWBIRD.
10, ♂ ad., Cave Creek, March 5. Length, 6.20; extent, 9.20. Iris dark
brown; bill and legs flesh-color.
15, ♀ ad., same locality and date. Length, 6.30; extent, 9.
141, ♀ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 31. Length, 6.10; extent,
9.30. Iris dark brown.
69. =Junco cinereus dorsalis= _(Henry) Henshaw_. RED-BACKED SNOWBIRD.
108, ♀ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 26. Length, 6.50; extent,
9.50; wing, 3.05; tail, 3.18. “Not as plenty here as _J. cinereus_.”
70. =Junco cinereus= (_Swains._) _Caban._ MEXICAN SNOWBIRD.—Nine
specimens, all taken during March, in the Chiricahua Mountains.
71. =Amphispiza bilineata= (_Cass._) _Coues_. BLACK-THROATED
SPARROW.—Mr. Stephens found this Sparrow on barren plains sparsely
covered with low bushes; he considers it a permanent resident in
Arizona.
_Juv., first plumage_ ♂ (No. 613, Camp Lowell, June 28). Crown, lores,
orbital region and sides of head generally, dull brownish-ash; a white
superciliary line as in the adult; back faded brown with shaft-stripes
of a darker shade on most of the feathers; wing-coverts and outer webs
of inner secondaries, reddish-buff; beneath dull white with the breast
and sides of the abdomen thickly but finely streaked with dull black.
In addition to the bird just mentioned the collection includes five
adults from the following localities: San Pedro River (♂, Dec. 25);
Sulphur Spring Valley (♂, April 4); Tucson (♀, May 3); Santa Rita
Mountains (♀, May 20); Camp Lowell (♂, May 30).
72. =Peucæa cassini= (_Woodh._) _Baird_. CASSIN’S SPARROW.—Although
special efforts were made to obtain specimens of this species, only one
was secured during the trip. “The song of the male is peculiar; about
midway it drops several notes and is finished on one key. Several others
seen. They were all very wild.”
159, ♀ ad., Sulphur Spring Valley, April 4. Length, 6.30; extent,
7.80; wing, 2.50; tail, 2.82. “Iris brown.”
73. =Peucæa carpalis= _Coues_. RUFOUS-WINGED SPARROW.—Found sparingly
about Tucson and Camp Lowell. It inhabited the mesquite thickets,
keeping closely hidden in the bunches of “sacaton” grass, from which,
when flushed, it flew into the branches above.
233, ♀ ad., Tucson, April 19. Length, 5.70; extent, 7.90; wing, 2.42;
tail, 2.82.
234, ♂ ad., same locality and date. Length, 5.90; extent, 8; wing,
2.57; tail, 3. “Iris brown; bill dark brown above, paler below; legs
pale brown.”
432, ♀ ad., Tucson, May 25. Length, 5.80; extent, 7.80; wing, 2.46;
tail, 2.75. With nest and three eggs.
442, ♂ ad., Tucson, May 27. Length, 5.80; extent, 8; wing, 2.58; tail,
3.
582, ♂ ad., Camp Lowell, June 24. Length, 5.90; extent, 8.20; wing,
2.55; tail, 2.91.
74. =Peucæa ruficeps boucardi= (_Scl._) _Ridg._ BOUCARD’S SPARROW.—These
Sparrows were met with at Cave Creek, near Morse’s Mill, and in the
Santa Rita Mountains. Among some notes taken at the first-named place I
find the following: “I saw five of these Sparrows to-day [March 4] but
two of them escaped me. They were in scrub oaks on rocky hillsides, and
were apparently mated. They acted somewhat like Wrens, hiding among the
rocks and flushing from the grass at a point some distance beyond where
I would mark them down. Two went into the low branches of the oaks, from
which I easily shot them. I have not found the species before in
Arizona, but I took several near Fort Bayard, New Mexico, in 1876.” A
specimen taken near the end of March was shot “on a ridge among thick
brush,” while two others, obtained in the Santa Rita Mountains in May,
occurred at a high elevation on similar ground.
1, ♂ ad., Cave Creek, March 4. Length, 6.60; extent, 8.30; wing, 2.80;
tail, 3.29.
2, ♀ ad., same locality and date. Length, 6.40; extent, 7.90; wing,
2.60; tail, 3.02.
3, ♂ ad., same locality and date. Length, 6.50; extent, 8.20. “Iris
brown; legs pale flesh-color; bill dark bluish slate-color.”
138, ♂ ad., Chiricahua Mountains, March 31. Length, 6.50; extent,
8.30; wing, 2.56; tail, 3.15.
387, ♀ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 16. Length, 6.10; extent, 8.10;
wing, 2.58; tail, 2.95. “Iris brown; bill blackish above, light bluish
below; legs pale flesh-color.”
413, ♀ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 20. Length, 6.30; extent, 7.80;
wing, 2.50; tail, 3.
The specimens enumerated above represent true _boucardi_ and are
readily separable from Texas examples by the characters which my
friend Mr. Brown has lately pointed out[93] in his diagnosis of the
new race, _eremœca_.
75. =Melospiza fasciata fallax= _Baird_. WESTERN SONG SPARROW.—Rather
common about Tucson where they haunted willow thickets and tall marsh
grass near water.
258, ♀ ad., Tucson, April 21. Length, 6.30; extent, 8.20; wing, 2.60;
tail, 2.98; culmen, .58. “Iris dark brown; bill dark above, light
below; legs light brown. With nest and three eggs.”
270, ♀ ad., Tucson, April 23. Length, 6.10; extent, 7.90; wing, 2.42;
tail, 2.86; culmen, .54.
319, ♂ ad., Tucson, May 3. Length, 6.30; extent, 8.40; wing, 2.60;
tail, 2.99; culmen, .55.
338, ♀ ad., Tucson, May 6. Length, 6.10; extent, 7.80; wing, 2.52;
tail, 2.97; culmen, .53. “With nest and three eggs: set completed.”
510, ♂ ad., Tucson, June 8. Length, 6.50; extent, 8.40; wing, 2.74;
tail, 3.16; culmen, .52.
76. =Melospiza lincolni= (_Aud._) _Baird_. LINCOLN’S FINCH.—“Common
along streams” in March. Two specimens (Cave Creek, March 5).
77. =Passerella townsendi schistacea= (_Baird_) _Coues_. SLATE-COLORED
SPARROW.—None were met with during 1881, but I have a specimen taken by
Mr. Stephens near Tucson, in February, 1880.
78. =Pipilo maculatus megalonyx= (_Baird_) _Coues_. SPURRED TOWHEE.—Two
males, Chiricahua Mountains, March 26 and 28. “Common in brush, usually
along streams. They have a variety of calls, some of which resemble
those of the Catbird. The song, uttered while the bird is sitting on a
tree, sounds like _jack-jacksonii_.”
The North American Towhees of the _maculatus_ group are at present
involved in much confusion. The trouble seems to be that each locality
furnishes a race of its own which either possesses certain slight
individual characteristics, or combines, in varying degrees, the
characters of two or more recognized forms. The case, however, is not
peculiar; for to a greater or less extent the same state of things
obtains among the Song Sparrows, Shore Larks, and several other species,
in which the forces of evolution are still actively working.
79. =Pipilo chlorurus= (_Towns._) _Baird_. GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE.—Several
specimens taken late in April. “Not common; usually found in low brush.”
80. =Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus= (_Baird_) _Ridgw._ CAÑON TOWHEE.—“Common
in rocky localities on plains, and in valleys.” A nest containing three
eggs was taken June 15 at a point about twenty-five miles north of
Tucson. The eggs are grayish-white with numerous, short, zigzag lines of
black about the larger end and occasional spots or dashes of brown and
dull lavender scattered over the general surface of the shell. They
measure respectively .91 × .69, .94 × .69, and .92 × .69. The nest,
which was placed about four feet above the ground in a “cat-claw”
mesquite, is firmly and rather compactly built of fibrous shreds from
the stalks of herbaceous plants, with a few twigs and whole stems
supporting the outside, and a scanty lining of horse-hair. Its external
diameter is about five inches; its depth two. The cavity is two inches
wide and one and a half deep. Both nest and eggs differ somewhat from
California examples of _crissalis_ in my collection, the eggs being
smaller and whiter, the nest softer and more compact.
177, ♂ ad., Tombstone, April 7. Length, 8.80; extent, 11.60. “Iris
light brown.”
186, ♀ ad., Tombstone, April 9. Length, 8.10; extent, 10.90; wing
3.50; tail, 4.15.
416, ♂ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 20. Length, 8.50; extent, 11.50;
wing, 3.73; tail, 4.45.
81. =Pipilo aberti= _Baird_. ABERT’S TOWHEE.—“I have found this species
common along the Colorado and Gila Rivers, and I took several on the San
Pedro in December, 1880. They appear to be restricted to the vicinity of
streams and usually to thick brush, although they frequent trees more
than most of the members of this genus. I have seen them hunting insects
in the bark of large trees in a manner similar to that of Wrens. They
are rather shy. The usual note is a sharp chirp. The song is difficult
to describe; it is rapid and near the middle rises to a higher key,
quickly falling again and ending on the initial note. The nest is rather
bulky; it is sometimes built in bushes near the ground, and again in
trees. I found one in a bunch of mistletoe at a height of at least
thirty feet.”
A nest found May 28, at Tucson, was built on the top of a mesquite
stump, where it was kept in place by the surrounding sprouts. It
contained three fresh eggs which measure respectively .91 × .72, .92 ×
.72, and .90 × .71. They are elliptical in shape, and in the character
and distribution of their markings they resemble the above described
eggs of _P. mesoleucus_ from which, however, they differ in having a
faint but decided bluish cast. The nest is large and loosely built. It
is composed mainly of broad strips or ribbons of bark with which are
mingled small, pliant twigs and the green stems and leaves of the
mesquite(?). The whole structure is homogeneous and, strictly speaking,
it has no lining, but the materials surrounding the cavity are rather
softer than the rest, while they are arranged with some regard to
smoothness. The external diameter of this nest is about seven inches;
its depth three. The cavity is three inches wide and two deep.
_Juv., first plumage_ (No. 520, Tucson, June 10). Above uniform light
brown; wing-coverts, outer edges of the inner secondaries and a narrow
tipping on the tail, brownish-ochraceous; beneath brownish-fulvous
with an ochraceous tinge on the throat, abdomen, and crissum, and a
broad band of coarse but obscure black spots extending across the
breast; head markings as in the adult, but duller.
Eight specimens were collected. “Iris light brown; bill brownish
horn-color above, bluish beneath; legs brown.”
82. =Cardinalis virginianus igneus= (_Baird_) _Coues_. SAINT LUCAS
CARDINAL.—Found only at Tucson, where it occurred sparingly in low
brush, usually near streams.
269, ♂ ad., Tucson, April 23. Length, 9.40; extent, 12.40; wing, 4.12;
tail, 4.92; longest feathers of crest, 1.35. “Iris dark brown; legs
brown.”
83. =Pyrrhuloxia sinuata= _Bonap._ TEXAN CARDINAL.—In the latter part of
April three of these Cardinals were taken near Tucson, and several
others were seen in the same place during March, 1880. They were found
among mesquites, along brush fences and in the shrubbery of an arroya.
“Iris dark brown; bill yellowish horn-color; legs pale brown. Food
seeds, green buds and insects.”
84. =Zamelodia melanocephala= (_Swains._) _Coues_. BLACK-HEADED
GROSBEAK.—Common at high elevations among the mountains.
367, ♂ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 13. Length, 8.10; extent, 12.90;
wing, 4.17; tail, 3.75. “Iris dark brown; legs light plumbeous.”
391, ♀ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 16. Length, 8.40; extent, 12.80;
wing, 4.28; tail, 3.70.
In addition to being considerably larger than any of my more northern
specimens, these examples are peculiar in having the interscapular
feathers so broadly edged with brownish-orange (brownish-yellow in the
♀) that the back appears to be about equally streaked with light and
dark color.
85. =Guiraca cœrulea= (_Linn._) _Swains._ BLUE GROSBEAK.—Only a few were
seen during the present trip, but Mr. Stephens found them common on the
Gila River in 1876. “They are late migrants.”
445, ♂ ad., Tucson, May 28. Length, 7.20; extent, 11.10; wing, 3.60;
tail, 3.27. “Iris dark brown; bill black above, bluish below; legs
black.”
86. =Passerina amœna= (_Say_) _Gray_. LAZULI BUNTING.—Two specimens,
obtained April 25, at Tucson, are noted as “the first ones seen.” One of
them, a male, has the blue almost completely obscured by rufous, which
forms a broad tipping on all the feathers of the upper parts. The
throat, however, remains nearly pure blue.
87. =Calamospiza bicolor= (_Towns._) _Bonap._ LARK BUNTING.—Several
large flocks were seen April 13, in the neighborhood of Tombstone. Most
of the males were in parti-colored dress, not above one per cent having
put on the black breeding-plumage. The stomachs of all which were killed
contained “buds and seeds.”
88. =Molothrus ater obscurus= (_Gmel._) _Coues_. DWARF COWBIRD.
277, ♂ ad., Tucson, April 25. Length, 7.30; extent, 12.40; wing, 4.02;
tail, 3.20. “Iris dark brown.”
417, ♂ ad., Santa Rita Mountains, May 20. Length, 7.10; extent, 12.10;
wing, 4.01; tail, 3.17.
89. =Agelæus phœniceus= (_Linn._) _Vieill._ RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD.
511, ♀ ad., Tucson, June 8. Length, 8.10; extent, 13.20; wing, 4.22;
tail, 3.40.
90. =Icterus parisiorum= _Bonap._ SCOTT’S ORIOLE.—Although this Oriole
was oftenest seen among the foot-hills it occasionally occurred on the
most barren plains, where it seemed content with the scanty shelter
afforded by the cactus thickets. In the hill country it frequented the
oak belt, and was seldom observed at a high elevation. During the
breeding season it was seen near Tucson, as well as among the Santa Rita
Mountains, but no nests were found in either locality.
_Juv., first plumage_ (♀. No. 528, Tucson, June 14). Generally like
the adult, but with all the wing feathers edged and tipped with white,
the wing-bands yellowish, the tail tipped with yellow, the breast
obscured with brownish, and the yellow of the under parts paler and
greener.
Only a small proportion of the males collected by Mr. Stephens have
the adult plumage perfected. A female (No. 189, Tombstone, April 10)
has a black throat-patch extending from the chin to the breast, and
small, sagittate black spots on the crown.
“Iris dark brown; bill black, bluish at base below; legs dark bluish.
Food, insects.”
91. =Icterus cucullatus= _Swains._ HOODED ORIOLE.—An uncommon species,
found only in the valleys, where it seemed to prefer cottonwoods to
other trees.
The specimens taken are all adults, with the exception of a male which,
although evidently a bird of the previous year, differs from the females
only in having a black throat-patch and several concealed black spots on
the interscapulars. One of the females is also peculiar in having many
half-concealed black spots on the throat and jugulum. Some of the
richest-colored males have the interscapular feathers tipped with
yellow.
92. =Icterus bullocki= (_Swains._) _Bonap._ BULLOCK’S ORIOLE.—Only two
of these Orioles were taken during 1881: but in the previous summer Mr.
Stephens found them not uncommon in the foot-hills of the Chiricahua
Mountains.
93. =Corvus corax carnivorus= (_Bartr._) _Ridgw._ AMERICAN
RAVEN.—Incidentally mentioned as common about Tucson.
94. =Corvus cryptoleucus= _Couch_. WHITE-NECKED RAVEN.—A small
proportion of the Ravens seen about Tucson were recognized as belonging
to this species. Their notes differed widely from those of the common
Raven, and “at times sounded somewhat like the quacking of a Duck.”
324, ♀ ad., Tucson, May 4. Length, 19.90; extent, 40.70; wing, 14.06;
tail, 8.94. “Iris dark brown.”
95. =Cyanocitta stelleri macrolopha= (_Baird_) _Ridgw._ LONG-CRESTED
JAY.—Five specimens, Chiricahua Mountains, March 24 to 26. “These Jays
are common in the pines well up the mountain sides, but they are wary
and difficult of approach. When pursued they fly from one tree to the
lower branches of the next and jumping from limb to limb, take flight
again as soon as they reach the top. If one can follow fast enough to
get within range before the bird reaches the top of the tree he may
obtain a shot, but it is necessary to keep behind some object while
accomplishing this. They are noisy and have a variety of calls, some of
which are disagreeably harsh. I think they are shyer here than in other
localities where I have met with them.” One of Mr. Stephens’ specimens
(No. 106) has the crest strongly tinged with blue, thus approaching var.
_diademata_ of Mexico.
96. =Aphelocoma woodhousii= (_Baird_) _Ridgw._ WOODHOUSE’S JAY.—One
specimen, Galeyville. January 29, 1881.
97. =Aphelocoma sordida arizonæ= _Ridgw._ ARIZONA JAY.—Mr. Stephens met
with this Jay in the Chiricahua and Santa Rita Mountains, and judging
from the number of specimens obtained it must be rather abundant in both
ranges. “They go in flocks of from five to twenty, and are generally
seen in the foot-hills. They are restless, and in most localities shy,
but around mills, where they congregate to feed on the grain in horse
droppings, they become used to the presence of human beings and are more
easily approached. Their food is chiefly broken acorns.”
A nest found May 16, in the Santa Rita Mountains, is a bulky structure
composed chiefly of yellowish rootlets with some coarse dead twigs
protecting its exterior and a scanty lining of fine grasses. The female
was sitting on four eggs. which were on the point of hatching. The only
specimen saved measures 1.13 × .82. It is pale greenish-blue, absolutely
without markings, and closely resembles a Robin’s egg. “The others were
similar, as were three eggs of a set taken in 1876, and two of one found
in 1880.”
Of the fifteen specimens collected only four have the bill wholly black.
With all the others there is more or less flesh-color, which, although
usually confined to the base and tip of the lower mandible, sometimes
spreads over nearly the whole of the bill below as well as encroaching
on the maxilla at the tomia, and occasionally even occupies a narrow
central space along the ridge of the culmen above the nostrils. Mr.
Henshaw has remarked on this feature, which he considers peculiar to
young birds. If this view be correct it must require several years for
the bill to become unicolor.
98. =Eremophila alpestris chrysolæma= (_Wagl._) _Coues_. MEXICAN SHORE
LARK.—The only Shore Lark in the collection, a young bird in first
plumage, taken on the plains at the base of the Santa Rita Mountains,
has been referred by Mr. Ridgway to the above race.
99. =Tyrannus verticalis= _Say_. ARKANSAS FLYCATCHER.—Although this
species was much less numerous than the following, especially after the
spring migrants had gone, a few pairs were found breeding about Camp
Lowell, where a nest containing three slightly incubated eggs was taken
on June 20. The collection includes skins from Tucson and Camp Lowell.
100. =Tyrannus vociferans= _Swains._ CASSIN’S FLYCATCHER.—“Abundant in
summer. Neither _verticalis_ nor _vociferans_ winters in Arizona.”
Specimens were collected at Tombstone, Tucson, and among the Santa Rita
Mountains.
The peculiar attenuation of the primaries in this species has been
freely commented on by authors, but no one seems to have noticed that
this character, at least as applied in diagnoses, is to be found in only
the _male_ of _T. vociferans_. Nevertheless this is true of the somewhat
large series of specimens before me, among which there is a decided and
very constant sexual difference in the shape of the outer four primary
feathers. All the adult males have them abruptly and deeply notched on
the inner webs about half an inch from the tip, the emargination
extending more than half-way to the shaft and reducing the width of the
feather, terminally, to about .12 of an inch. In the females these
feathers show no well-defined notching, the tips being simply tapered,
usually with a slightly concave outline, although the outline is
sometimes actually rounded. A young male from Riverside, California (No.
6380, Sept. 19, 1881), taken during its first autumnal moult, has the
old primaries (1–2) almost without attenuation, their tips being only
slightly tapered, while the new ones (3–5) are as deeply notched as in
any of the adults. Hence it is probable that males in first plumage will
be found to have the primaries shaped like those of the female.
The sexes of _T. verticalis_ differ in a similar manner but less
markedly, for the first primary of the female, although broader than
that of the male, usually has the same falcate shape. I have one or two
females, however, which, by the wing characters alone, can with
difficulty be distinguished from females of _vociferans_.
101. =Myiarchus mexicanus cooperi=[94] (_Kaup_) _Baird_. COOPER’S
FLYCATCHER.—This large Myiarchus which, as I lately announced,[95] Mr.
Stephens has the credit of first finding within our boundaries, was
ascertained to be a common summer resident about Camp Lowell. Of its
occurrence in New Mexico, also, I now have positive evidence, a
previously undetermined specimen, taken by Mr. Stephens near the Gila
River, June 12, 1876, proving on comparison to be identical with the
Arizona ones.