Page:Condor7(3).djvu/16

May, t9o 5 IN ALASKA'S RAIN BELT 7t could think of nothing but the well known picture called 'The Tight Shell,' which one sees advertised in the sporting journals. The bird is perhaps still at large, and the shells, which finally did go in, were rapidly discharged at the empty air, mak- ing a fitting climax to a short but vigorous series of atmospheric disturbances that had preceded them. Washington, ]9. C. Midwinter Birds on the Mojave Desert BY JOSEPH MAILLIARD AND JOSEPH GRINNELL HE midwinter collecting trip of I9O3-O 4 had been so pleasantly participated in by the authors of this article that it was proposed torepeat the experience the following year, with the difference of a change of base, and the addition of a student assistant for each of us. After thinking over various localities it was decided that Victorville, near the southern edge of the Mojave Desert would prob- ably prove an interesting point, and one at which but little work had ever been done. This locality was near enough to the bases of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Ranges so that mountain birds should be found during stormy weather dispersed at the lower levels along with northern visitants and the resident desert species. Victorville is a small settlement on the line of the A. T. & S. F. railroad be- tween Barstow and San Bernardino, thirty-seven miles south of the former. The Mojave River runs past the place, cutting through some picturesque rocks just above the town, and. finally loses itseli in the desert sands below Barstow. Its source is in the wood-covered San Bernardino Mountains to the south, and along its banks are groves of cottonwoods, many of these trees being of large size and the groves quite extensive in places. On each side of the river the desert stretches away in a varied assortment of plains, rolling hills, and bare rocky mountains. The usual desert bushes are but thinly scattered over its 'surface, affording little cover for the permanently resident birds; and while the tree yuccas are in evi- dence, chiefly towards the south, they are much less numerous than we had hoped to find them. The party consisted of the authors and three students from the Throop Poly- technic Institute of Pasadena. One of these, Philip Pinger, was Mr. Mailliard's assistant; another, Joseph Dixon, Mr. Grinnell's; while the third, Walter P. Taylor, ornithologized on his own account. Owing to the scarcity of cover in the desert proper, birds proved very scarce there, and we soon found that most of our collect- ing would have to be done among the cottonwoods along the river, and about the large alfalfa field two miles north of town. A small irrigating ditch from the river above ran through this field, with seepage-sinks here and there containiug reeds and willows, and we discovered that these were the abiding places of numerous song sparrows, which, when disturbed or when feeding, scattered out to weed patches in the vicinity. These birds had evidently come from many parts of the west, so that this locality seemed to serve as a sort of winter meeting place for them. We captured what looked to be quite a variety, but which finally worked down to three races, with intermediate examples, as shown in the annotated list to follow.