Page:Condor14(4).djvu/15

 July, 1912 NOTES ON WADING BIRDS OF BARR LAKE REGION, COLORADO 125 bar leading to it from the shore (as the Water was now very low). The seven were typical nests, built in the zone of pig-weed and young cockle-burrs exactly like those of the preceding year; while the one on the sand-bar was a neat depres- sion in the sand well lined with grass. There was not a r)article of vegetation or cover on the sand-bar, but on account of their coloration the eggs were very in- conspicuous, even in their exposed position. On this occasion the birds were vel'y noisy and demonstrative and we located the nests readily by their actions. On June 14 we found that two of the nests had been destroyed, some bird having pecked small holes in the eggs. All the other nests had either hatched or been destroyed as we did not find either nest or young. On June 19 we found another nest of four eggs on the island but still no sign of yo/ng birds, and on lune 27 this nest was found to have been destroyed as the others had been. We' finally concluded that the mischief must have been done by a good-sized flock of non-breeding Ring-billed Gulls which made the island their headquarters. The birds remained until the latter part of October, well into the hunting' season, and their large size, conspicuous coloration and absolute lack of fear of firearms made them easy prey for the thoughtless hunters who frequented the lakes. Gallinago delicata. WILSON SNIPE. Up to very recent years the published records of Wilson Snipe as a. breeding bird of Colorado, were confined to four records: that of Drew who found it breeding in San Juan County (B. N. O. C. IV, 1881, 85); that of W. E. D. Scott who found it breeding at Twin Lakes, Lake C)unty, at 9,000 feet (B. N. O. C. IV, 1879, 92; and that of Aiken at the San Luis Lakes at 7500 feet elevation and that of Sprague (Cooke) at 9000 feet in the Middle Park. All of these records are Transition and Canadian zone records, and the first two at least are of such an indefinite nature that it is a question whether nests were actually found or whether the breeding record was based only upon the presence of the birds dur- ing the nesting season. From 1905 to 1909 Fred M. Dille found several nests near Altoona, Boulder County, close to the foothills and at an elevation of about 5500 feet. As these sets were taken just inside the Transition zone, the single nest which we found at Bart June 20, 1908, is, so far as I know, the first breeding record for the species within the 'Upper Sonoran zone of Colorado. This peculiar bird occurs regularly though not commonly at Bart through- out the nesting season, and the fact that more nests have not been found may no doubt be attributed alone to lack of field work. In fact we encountered several pairs of birds which we were reasonably sure were nesting, but we were suc- cessful in one instance only. This nest was located on (and above) the surface of slightly damp ground at the edge of a good sized area of very soft, boggy land formed by the seepage under the dike of the Big Barr Lake. It was built in the center of a tussock of grass about eight inches in length and was a very neat, well shaped and cupped nest composed entirely of fine dry grass. In construction it was far superior to any shore bird's nest I have ever seen, being so compactly and strongly put to- gether that it was possible to remdve it from the nesting site without injury. In general appearance the nest itself is not unlike certain sparrows' nests. It was not particularly well concealed; in fact from above it was quite con- spicuous. The bird flushed when we were about fifteen feet away and made quite