Nov.,1914 I?I?I?I?CTS O1? IRRIGATION ON BIRD LI1?I? IN WASHINGTON 253 the sage brush, but real prosperity has come most markedly to the Mourning Dove and the Meadowlark. Each year for the past three years two pairs of doves have nested on my forty acres, at which rate for the 62,000 acres of the entire tract there would be 6200 doves. This past year four pairs of Meadow- larks nested on my ranch simultaneously, which would indicate for the entire tract 12,400 Meadowlarks. Among the species previously limited to the river banks and thickets the following have taken advantage of the extended mesophytic condition and have variously profited accordingly. The Killdeer has noisily laid claim to every puddle of waste water, and has taken advantage of every barnyard. Nesting observations indicate a population of about 6000 for the entire tract. The Arkansas Kingbird, without waiting for suitable nesting s/res, has tempo- rarily built his nest on the electric poles and hay derricks. Though one of the most conspicuous species, nest data would indicate a total population of not over 1000 individuals. The Eastern Kingbird is about one-tenth as abundant as the Arkansas, and Say Phoebe is less common yet. Bullock Oriole is an- other species restricted by suitable nesting sites. It does not nest in young orchards, but every poplar windbreak has from one to half a dozen nests. A thousand individuals would be a fair estimate. Of the species of blackbirds found along the river, Brewer is the only one which has spread. It is a com- mon dooryard bird, and with the exception of the robin is the species most friendly to man. It nests in weeds along all the larger ditches, also in colonies in the greasewood along the river, and in bushes and vines about farm houses. It is the third most abundant species, with at least 10,000 individuals. The Song Sparrow is the second most abundant species, running close to the Mea- dowlark in point of numbers. Because of its peculiar habit of n?sting near water, giving it an irregular distribution, its numbers are less easily computed, but there are at least 10,000 on the entire tract. The Bank Swallow has occu- pied the cuts along the forty miles of main canal with a total number of prob- ably 2000; and the Robin is nesting in the door yards and young orchards, with a total of about 2000 individuals. The following species are common but have not appeared yet in numbers sufficient to estimate them :--Flicker, NighthaWk, Black-chinned and Rufous tIummingbirds, Say Phoebe, Pale Gold/inch, Western Savannah SpaTow, Western Lark Sparrow, Western Chipping Sparrow, Lazuli Bunting and Moun- tain Bluebird. In the lower parts of this irrigated tract many ponds were formed by seepage and ,?aste irrigating water. Their banks were sown by the wind- blown tuie seed, making a habitat quickly occupied by the following species :- American Black Tern, Cinnamon Teal, Shovellet Duck, Coot, Marsh Hawk, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Red-winged Blackbird and Interior Tule Wren. These species, from what I can learn, thrived about these ponds for about ten years, but last winter all the ponds were drained, driving the birds back to their former haunts about the permanent ponds in the river bottoms. The following species found along the river, except as occasionally forag- ing over the irrigated land, have remained unaffected by the changed condi- tious :--Great Blue Heron, Spotted Sandpiper,' Sharp-shinned, Red-tailed and Sparrow Hawks, Kingfisher, Magpie, Black-headed Jay, Spurred Towhee, Yellow Warbler and Western Yellowthroat. The English Sparrow has followed man in, and is now common in the towns. The Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasia?us torquatus) and the Bob-white
