Page:Condor7(3).djvu/24

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

May, i9o 5 I BIRDS OF THE SANTA RITA MOUNTAINS, ARIZONA 79 Trochilus alexandri. Black-chinned Hummingbird. Seen along the canyon streams. This was the only hummingbird that was at all common in the Santa Ritas. Mr. Stephens had secured specimens of/ache/atirostrs and F?u?e?zesfu/?ens on a previous visit to the mountains, years before; and I had found both species in other ranges visited in the territory, so we confidently expected to find them both in the Santa Ritas, but were disappointed, none being seen of either species. This was undoubtedly due to the disastrous series of dry years. Calypte cost/e. Costa Hummingbird. A few seen along the canyons. Not common. Basilirma leuc0tis. White-cared Hummingbird. On June 2 4 Mr. Stephens se- cured a single bird, a male, but not adult; probably a bird of the previous year. (For a detailed description of this bird see Pacific Coast Avifauna No. 4, Birds of the Huachuca Mountains, Arizona, page ?9.) Tyrannus verticalis. Arkansas Kingbird. Not common. Seen mostly below the ? mountains. Tyrannus v0ciferans. Cassin Kingbird. Quite common; much more so than the last. Myiarchus cinerascens. Ash-throated Flycatcher. Seen along the canyon streams. Not very common. Myiarchus 1. 01ivascens. Olivaceous Flycatcher. Probably fairly abundant, though not so much so as shonld have been the case. As usual their note was heard, issuing front some wooded hillside, far more often than the birds themselves were seen. Say0rni$ $aya. Say Phoebe. A few seen along the base of the mountains. ?0nt0pu$ p. pallidiYentri$. Coues Flycatcher. Seen only on one or two occa- sions. None observed below 6ooo feet. ?0nt0pus richardsoni. V?'estern ood Pewee. Quite common along the lower canyons. Several specimens were taken which were most undoubtedly not breeding. Empid0nax f. pygmaeu$. Buff-breasted Flycatcher. A few birds seen in the pines in the very highest parts of the range. They were shy and hard to ap- proach, and no nests were found. Pyr0cephalu$ r. mexicanus. Vermilion Flycatcher. Fairly common in the lower canyons. 0t0c0ri$ a. adusta. Scorched Horned Lark. Out on the barren mesa, just be- low the mountains a few horned larks were seen on one or two occasions. They were exceedingly shy, so much so as to be utterly unapproachable, and no speci- mens were secured; but in all probability they belonged to this subspecies. Aphe10c0ma c. ariz0nae. Arizona Jay. Very abundant. The dry seasons seemed to have had little effect on them, for they were at this time through with their breeding, and the troops of juveniles, accompanied by their parents, were in evidence everywhere. Molothrus a. obscurus. Dwarf Cowbird. Fairly abtmdant, though not nearly so common as in the lowlands. I saw one young bird being fed by a plumbeous gnatcatcher not quite half his size. Icterus parisorum. Scott Oriole. A few seen, but they were not at all common. Icterus c. nelsoni. Arizona Hooded )riole. Much more abundant than the last mentioned species, but found generally at a lower altitude, most of those seen being in the deep ravine below the mountains. Carpodacus m. frontalis. House Finch. Very abundant along the lower canyons, particularly in the deep ravine before mentioned. I think the house finches were more abundant here than in any other place I have visited in south-