Part 22

6. =Bonasa umbella= (_Linn._) _Steph._ RUFFED GROUSE.—Once seen and once heard “drumming.” The local sportsmen report them as being quite scarce.—W. H. FOX, _Washington, D. C._

ERRATA.

Vol. VII, page 119, line 8, for “struggling” read “straggling”; page 122, line 9 from bottom, for “Rellon” read “Redlon”; page 123, line 28, for “Before” read “Upon.”

BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. VOL. VII. OCTOBER, 1882. No. 4.

ON A COLLECTION OF BIRDS LATELY MADE BY MR. F. STEPHENS IN ARIZONA.

BY WILLIAM BREWSTER.

(_Continued from p. 147._)

60. =Carpodacus frontalis= (_Say_) _Gray_. HOUSE FINCH.

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.