Chapter VIII: BROWN-CAPPED LEUCOSTICTE--Leucosticte australis 303

SCENIC AND TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS ("Their grass-lined nests by the babbling mountain brook") 21

TURTLE DOVES ("Darting across the turbulent stream") 44

PIPITS ("Te-cheer! te-cheer!") 50

PIPITS ("Up over the Bottomless Pit") 51

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW ("Dear Whittier") 55

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET ("The singer elevated his crest feathers") 65

DESERT HORNED LARKS ("They were plentiful in this parched region") 84

HORNED LARK ("It was a dear little thing") 88

COYOTE ("Looking back to see whether he were being pursued") 100

ONE OF THE SEVEN LAKES 105

SUMMIT OF PIKE'S PEAK 111

"PIKE'S PEAK IN CLOUDLAND" 114

CLIFF-SWALLOWS ("On the rugged face of a cliff") 118

ROYAL GORGE 123

PINE SISKINS 128

WILLOW THRUSH 136

BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS ("An interesting place for bird study") 139

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRDS ("There the youngsters perched") 142

"FROM THEIR PLACE AMONG THE REEDS" 146

THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN JAY ("Seeking a covert in the dense pineries when a storm sweeps down from the mountains") 152

RAINBOW FALLS 165

WATER-OUSEL ("Up, up, only a few inches from the dashing current") 167

WATER-OUSEL ("Three hungry mouths which were opened wide to receive the food") 171

"NO SNOWSTORM CAN DISCOURAGE HIM" 174

"THE DARK DOORWAY" 179

SONG SPARROW ("His songs are bubbling over still with melody and glee") 194

CLEAR CREEK VALLEY 201

WESTERN ROBIN ("Out-pouring joy") 207

RED-NAPED SAPSUCKERS ("Chiselling grubs out of the bark") 211

PIGEON HAWK ("Watching for quarry") 214

"SOLO SINGING IN THE THRUSH REALM" 218

GRAY'S AND TORREY'S PEAKS 245

PANORAMA FROM GRAY'S PEAK--NORTHWEST 249

THISTLE BUTTERFLY 252

WESTERN WHITE 252

JUNCO ("Under a roof of green grass") 255

SOUTH PARK FROM KENOSHA HILL 265

MAGPIE AND WESTERN ROBINS ("They were hot on his trail") 271

VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW ("Squatted on the dusty road and took a sun-bath") 279

"'What bird is that? Its song is good,'
And eager eyes
Go peering through the dusky wood
In glad surprise;
Then late at night when by his fire
The traveller sits,
Watching the flame grow brighter, higher,
The sweet song flits
By snatches through his weary brain
To help him rest."

HELEN HUNT JACKSON: _The Way to Sing_.

BRIEF FOREWORD

With sincere pleasure the author would acknowledge the uniform courtesy of editors and publishers in permitting him to reprint many of the articles comprised in this volume, from the various periodicals in which they first appeared.

He also desires to express his special indebtedness to Mr. Charles E. Aiken, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, whose contributions to the ornithology of the West have been of great scientific value, and to whose large and varied collection of bird-skins the author had frequent access for the purpose of settling difficult points in bird identification. This obliging gentleman also spent many hours in conversation with the writer, answering his numerous questions with the intelligence of the scientifically trained observer. Lastly, he kindly corrected some errors into which the author had inadvertently fallen.

While the area covered by the writer's personal observations may be somewhat restricted, yet the scientific bird-list at the close of the volume widens the field so as to include the entire avi-fauna of Colorado so far as known to systematic students. Besides, constant comparison has been made between the birds of the West and the allied species and genera of our Central and Eastern States. For this reason the range of the volume really extends from the Atlantic seaboard to the parks, valleys, and plateaus beyond the Continental Divide.