Page:Condor10(2).djvu/22

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76 THE CONDOR VOL. X Warblers are a very interesting group we admit, but neither species nor in- dividuals were represented sufficiently to gain proportionate rank. Townsend Warblers (]9endroica lownsendi) I met with during the migrations, at about the 5000 foot level at all times. They limited themselves to such ravines as harbored a growth of madrona trees. Latest spring date: May 13; fall dates: September 5 to 21. Audub6n Warblers (]9endroica auduboni), found in abundance during the earlier weeks of May, had all disappeared by the 20th, and no more were seen until October 1, when I secured an immature S at 5000 feet. Black-throated Gray Warblers (]9endrofca nigrescens) being plentiful at all alerations during my entire stay, I cannot give any arrival or departure dates. But a bird secured, with ad- ditional ones seen, October 28, along the Rio San Pedro, gives ground for believ- ing them of very late departure from the highlands, and, with future investigation, a winter resident of the valleys of southern Arizona. The Tolmie Warbler (Oporor?t's 1olmiei) was not recorded during the spring. An adult ? on Septem- ber 5, was my first fall date; for a month thereafter it was of usual occurrence from where the oaks begin, up tO the pines. Quite deliberate of movement, yet retiring,. the brushy situations at all times were chosen, in preference to the arborescent growth. The commonest warbler here, the Pileolated ( Wilsonia pusilla pileolala), was noted every month, only excepting June and July (absent May 26 to August 5). Lucy Warblers (IYelmi?lhophila lucite) will claim attention during their season, in most any arroyo or wash between the mountains and San Pedro River, but none in the mountains proper. The single exception happened on June 3, which I can reckill as an exceedingly warm day. Returning from a tramp about the foothills, and pausing to drink at the first spring encountered, a diminutive warbler, recognized as the Lucy, flew dow. n and began quenching its thirst also, at a distance of ten feet. Elevation 4200 feet, among the oaks. How eager I was, to make the reacquaintance of the Painted Redstart (Selo- phaga picla) after a lapse of some years. Still I believed myself doomed to dis- appointment up to the 22nd of July. Then a solitary bird, and no more, until after the heavy rains of the last week in August, which put the canyons in ideal con- dition for this species, i. e-, freshened up the mosses and lichens; brought forth a heavy undergrowth; started many rivulets; and lastly, introduced innumerable swarms of midges into the world to enjoy the situation. And now too, the migra- tory time had arrived. So the two weeks from September 7 to 21, marked a period of abundant opportunity to study this species. Nervous energy in the bird is quite generally attributed in maximum to the wren, but I think I can say con- fidently, that no bird coming within the scope of my observation, has a better claim to a title of perpetual motion than the Painted Redstart: I have never seen it quiet for ten consecutive seconds! ' Among the half dozen species of Woodpeckers, found in the Transition zone at times during my visit, the Gila (Cenlurus uropygialis) and Arizona (]9ryo- bales arizonce) drew the most attention from me--perhaps owing to their limited distribution within our country. In midsummer an occasional Gila Woodpecker ventured into the foothills, to prowl among the old mescal stalks, so numerous thereabouts; later on, by September 1, more were in evidence, and had pushed their range up to 5000 feet greater than when in their usual retreats (lowland val- leys and mesa); rarely beating a tattoo or uttering a call; dividing their time be- tween mescal and Opuntia cactus; and now and then inspecting an oak, from which they were generally driven away by a more pugnacious relative, the Ant-eating Woodpecker (Affelanerpesformicivorus), a species that seemed as numerous as the