Page:Condor9(5).djvu/35

 Sept., I9o 7 SOME BIRDS OF SOUTHWEST COLORADO from the counties of Montezuma, Montrose and San Miguel, which is specified as it occurs in the text. My location was unfavorable for water birds so no account is taken of them. Fort Lewis school is situated on a terrace a few feet above the La Plata River. On each side of the river is a more or less level mesa covered with a growth of pine ( Pinus jqexilis), pinyon ( Pinus edulis), juniper (Junt}berus occidentalis) and scrub oak (Quercus undulata and Quercus. u. gambeli). The river bottom sustains a heavy growth of narrow-leaf cottonwood (lr>opulus angusttfolia), black birch (telula occidentalis), paper-leaf alder (Alnus lenuiolia), two kinds of willow, some aspens (lr>opulus lremuloides), a few pities (. jqexilis), and an occasional blue spruce (lrcea pungens). Two trips were made to the top of the La Plata Mountains, something over 13,000 feet elevation, and vegetation already noted was found to gradually give way to more of the blue spruce and aspen. I am indebted to ex-Supt. W. M. Peterson and Supt. J. S. Spear, of the Fort Lewis School, for opportunity for study and observation. The list is by no means complete but may prove of interest to some CONDOR readers. Dendragapus 0bscurus. Dusky Grouse. Said to be cornmorn on the north slopes of the La Plata Mountains. I picked up a dead one December 20, on the snow near La Plata City, altitude 10,000 feet. It had been partly eaten, by an owl, perhaps. Pedicecetes phasianellus columbianus or campestris. Sharp-tailed Grouse. A few scattered on the mesas at about 7,500 feet. Resident thruout the year. In winter their tracks are frequently seen on top of snow 3 or 4 feet deep. I have seen where they roosted in the snow--a short tunnel with two openings; apparently only one bird in each, however. Two birds secured had crops full of acorns. The greatest number seen was a flock of 18, the usual number being 6 to 10. On May 11, 1906, Mr. W. M. Peterson found a nest containing 11 eggs, situated on the ground under a small scrub oak. He drove over the bush in a buggy but the nest escaped harm. Not so the brood, however, which hatched two weeks later; for an Indian killed the mother before the young were old enough to shift for themselves. The nest-cavity was lined with grass and feathers. I identified two birds secured as variety campeslm's, but afterward noting what Cooke's "Birds of Colorado" had to say on the subject I became uncertain. They are now in California and must await authoritative identification. Zenaidura car01inensis. Mourning Dove. Not numerous at this altitude. A few noted in summer. Several seen in January near Navajo Springs on the South- ern Ute reservation near the New Mexico line, altitude about 5,500 feet. Probably a few winter there. Mr. Warren reports them near Cortez April 8, and common at Coventry, Montrose County, about April 20. Meleagris g0110pav0 merriami. Merriam Turkey. Mr. Warren tells me that C. H. Smith of Coventry saw a turkey, probably this variety, in January, 1899, in San Miguel Canyon and heard of them a year or two later in the same locality. While down in the Navajo reservation in New Mexico I helped eat two wild turkeys killed by Indians in the Carriso Mountains, somewhere near the Four Corners. They sold them to a post trader but had all the feathers picked off before bringing them in. I was not expert enough to identify the subspecies' after they had been brought on the table but judged they were hatched at least five years be- fore before being bitten into. Circus huds0nius. Marsh Hawk. Seen once near the New Mexico line. Mr. Warren reports it at Cortez in April.