210 THE CONDOR Vol. XVIII I saw not a single Abert Towhee (Pipilo aberti) nor Crissal Thrasher (Toxos- toma crissale), although these two were among the commonest species near Tuc- . son. Horned larks can be present during the winter months in only very small numbers, for I saw none, although there are good feeding grounds for them. In some ways the winter wasa little clisappointing to.me, for, with the exception of a few common, local species, the bird population consisted almost entirely of forms that also occur plentifully in southern California during this season. No doubt, the seeming paucity of species was in large part due to the fact that I was able to collect only in the cottonwood, mesquite, and mesa-desert associations. The nature of the country precluded the possibility of my encountering many water birds; an occasional Farallon Cormorant (Phalacrocorax a. albo- ciliat.?ts) in one of the small ponds, a few jack snipe (Gallinago delicata), and one or two wandering ducks during tht rains, being all one could really expect. I was told that the Sealed Quail (Callipepla s. squamata) does occur sparingly in this region, but the only species which I saw was the Gambel Quail (Lophortyx gambeli). During the winter, all the quail for miles around seem to congregate on one little range of low hills two or three miles long. Here were two very large covies continually persecuted by gunners, cats, coyotes and horned owls. One of the latter came around when a covey was disturbed one afternoon, apparent- ly seeking a light snack during the excitement. About the middle of February the quail begin invading the bottoms, in pairs and small parties. Later in the season they do considerable damage to grain, small, isolated fields of milo and kaffir sometimes being completely destroyed b?r them. Of the four doves of the region, only the Western Mourning (Zenaidura m. marginella) and Inca (Scardafella inca) are resident in any numbers. Only a very few individuals of the hordes of breeding White-wings (Melopelia asiatica) remain for the cold weather, and but a single flock of Mexican Ground Doves (Chaemepelia p. pallescens) was encountered. As is well known, the Incas pre- fer the vicinity of towns, but a flock is sometimes encotmtered on a ranch feed- ing with the English Sparrows (Passer domesticus). The latter, by the way, are much more widely distributed throughout the settled rural districts than they are in southern California. . During my, stay the Sharp-shin (Accipiter velox), Cooper (Accipiter coo- peri), Western Redtail (Buteo b. calurus), and Desert Sparrow (Falco s. pha- laena) hawks were the only common, diurnal raptores. Fifteen miles south of Florence, a pair of adult Harris Hawks (Parabuteo u. harrisi). was encotmtered among the sahuaros, but I saw no other dark-colored hawks on the trip. No Mex- ican Goshawks (Asturina plagiata) were noted near camp, but in the forest of giant mesquites twelve miles southwest of Tucson, F. C. Willard and I saw two or three, March 20. To one who is accustomed only to handling dried skins of this species, the bird on the wing is surprisingly large. Turkey Vultures (Ca- thartes a. septentrionalis) arrived from the south March ].2. The Audubon Caracara (Polyborus cheriway) has not been reported from the state since 1905, and it was with much satisfaction that I secured a fine male of this species, Jan- uary 6. I wounded another near the same spot, January 31, but it escaped by running through the brush, a statement tha. t will sound absurd to those who have not had the experience of chasing a caracara for a quarter of a mile. Western Horned Owls (Bubo v. pallesce,?s) are more abundant here than I have ever seen them elsewhere. I am sure that the residents of the region must be augmented during the cold weather by numbers which have come down from
