Chapter 15
This wren is well named, for his home is among the rocks, in the crannies and niches of which his mate hides her nest so effectually that you must look long for it, and even after the most painstaking search you may not be able to find it. The little husband helps to lead you astray. He will leap upon a rock and send forth his bell-like peal, as if he were saying, "Right here, right here, here is our nest!" but when you go to the spot, he flits off to another rock and sounds the same challenge. And so you can form no idea of the nest site. My nearest approach to finding a nest was among the rocks and cliffs on the summit of a mountain a few miles from Golden, where an adult bird was seen to feed a youngster that had already flown from the nursery. It was interesting to know that the rock wrens breed at so high an altitude. However, they are not an alpine species, none having been seen by the writer over eight thousand feet above sea-level, although they have been known to ascend to an altitude of twelve thousand feet.
The fourth member of our feathered quartette was the oddest of all. On the thirtieth of June my companion and I were riding slowly down the mountain side a few miles below Gray's Peak, which we had scaled two days before. My ear was struck by a flicker's call above us, so I dismounted from my burro, and began to clamber up the hillside. Presently I heard a song that seemed one moment to be near at hand, the next far away, now to the right, now to the left, and anon directly above me. To my ear it was a new kind of bird minstrelsy. I climbed higher and higher, and yet the song seemed to be no nearer. It had a grosbeak-like quality, I fancied, and I hoped to find either the pine or the evening grosbeak, for both of which I had been making anxious search. The shifting of the song from point to point struck me as odd, and it was very mystifying.
Higher and higher I climbed, the mountain side being so steep that my breath came in gasps, and I was often compelled to throw myself on the ground to recover strength. At length a bird darted out from the pines several hundred feet above me, rose high into the air, circled and swung this way and that for a long time, breaking at intervals into a song which sifted down to me faintly through the blue distance. How long it remained on the wing I do not know, but it was too long for my eyes to endure the strain of watching it. Through my glass a large part of the wings showed white or yellowish-white, and seemed to be almost translucent in the blaze of the sunlight. What could this wonderful haunter of the sky be? It was scarcely possible that so roly-poly a bird as a grosbeak could perform so marvellous an exploit on the wing.
I never worked harder to earn my salary than I did to climb that steep and rugged mountain side; but at last I reached and penetrated the zone of pines, and finally, in an area covered with dead timber, standing and fallen, two feathered strangers sprang in sight, now flitting among the lower branches and now sweeping to the ground. They were not grosbeaks, that was sure; their bills were quite slender, their bodies lithe and graceful, and their tails of well-proportioned length. Save in color, they presented a decidedly thrush-like appearance, and their manners were also thrush-like.
Indeed, the colors and markings puzzled me not a little. The upper parts were brownish-gray of various shades, the wings and tail for the most part dusky, the wing-coverts, tertials, and some of the quills bordered and tipped with white, also the tail. The white of both wings and tail became quite conspicuous when they were spread. This was the feathered conundrum that flitted about before me. The birds were about the size of the hermit thrushes, but lither and suppler. They ambled about gracefully, and did not seem to be very shy, and presently one of them broke into a song--the song that I had previously heard, only it was loud and ringing and well articulated, now that I was near the singer. Again and again they lifted their rich voices in song. When they wandered a little distance from each other, they called in affectionate tones, giving their "All's well."
Then one of them, no doubt the male, darted from a pine branch obliquely into the air, and mounted up and up and up, in a series of graceful leaps, until he was a mere speck against the blue dome, gyrating to and fro in zigzag lines, or wheeling in graceful circles, his song dribbling faintly down to me at frequent intervals. A thing of buoyancy and grace, more angel than bird, that wonderful winged creature floated about in the cerulean sky; how long I do not know, whether five minutes, or ten, or twenty, but so long that at last I flung myself upon my back and watched him until my eyes ached. He kept his wings in constant motion, the white portions making them appear filmy as the sun shone upon them. Suddenly he bent his head, partly folded his wings, and swept down almost vertically like an arrow, alighting safe somewhere among the pines. I have seen other birds performing aerial evolutions accompanied with song, but have never known one to continue so long on the wing.
What was this wonderful bird? It was Townsend's solitaire (_Myadestes townsendii_)--a bird which is peculiar to the West, especially to the Rocky Mountains, and which belongs to the same family as the thrushes and bluebirds. No literature in my possession contains any reference to this bird's astonishing aerial flight and song, and I cannot help wondering whether other bird-students have witnessed the interesting exploit.
Subsequently I found a pair of solitaires on the plains near Arvada. The male was a powerful singer. Many of his outbursts were worthy of the mocking-bird, to some of whose runs they bore a close resemblance. He sang almost incessantly during the half day I spent in the neighborhood, my presence seeming to inspire him to the most prodigious lyrical efforts of which he was master. Sometimes he would sit on the top of a bush or a fence-post, but his favorite perches were several ridges of sand and gravel. His flight was the picture of grace, and he had a habit of lifting his wings, now one, now the other, and often both, after the manner of the mocking-bird on a chimney-top. He and his mate did not utter a chirp, but made a great to-do by singing, and finally I discovered that all the fuss was not about a nest, but about a hulking youngster that had outgrown his kilts and looked very like a brown thrasher. Neither of this second pair of solitaires performed any evolutions in the upper air; nor did another pair that I found far up a snow-clad mountain near Breckenridge, on the other side of the Continental Divide.
The scientific status of this unique bird is interesting. He is a species of the genus _Myadestes_, which belongs to the family _Turdidæ_, including the thrushes, stone-chats, and bluebirds, as well as the solitaires. He is therefore not a thrush, but is closely related to the genus _Turdus_, occupying the same relative position in the avi-faunal system. According to Doctor Coues the genus includes about twenty species, only one of which--the one just described--is native to the United States, the rest being found in the West Indies and Central and South America. Formerly the solitaires comprised a subfamily among the chatterers, but a later and more scientific classification places them in a genus under the head of _Turdidæ_.
The range of Townsend's solitaire is from the plains of Colorado to the Pacific coast and north to British Columbia. According to Robert Ridgway, he has even been met with "casually" in Illinois. In Colorado many of the solitaires are permanent residents in the mountains, remaining there throughout the winter. Some of them, however, visit the plains during the fall, winter, and spring. In the winter they may be found from the lower valleys to an elevation of ten thousand feet, while they are known to breed as high as twelve thousand feet. The nests are placed on the ground among rocks, fallen branches and logs, and are loosely constructed of sticks and grass. From three to six eggs compose a set, the ground color being white, speckled with reddish brown. Doctor Coues says the birds feed on insects and berries, and are "capable of musical expression in an exalted degree." With this verdict the writer is in full accord.
CHECK-LIST OF COLORADO BIRDS
The following list includes all the species and varieties, so far as known to naturalists, occurring in the State of Colorado. Of course, these birds as families are not restricted to that State, and therefore the catalogue comprehends many of the species to be found in adjacent and even more remote parts of the country. Aside from the author's own observations, he is indebted for a large part of the matter comprised in this list to Professor Wells W. Cooke's pamphlet, entitled, "The Birds of Colorado," with the several appendixes, and to the invaluable manuals of Mr. Ridgway and Dr. Coues.
According to the latest information accessible to the writer, 389 species and varieties occur in Colorado, of which 243 are known to breed. This is a superb record, and is excelled by only two other States in the Union, namely, Texas and California. Colorado's splendid list is to be explained on the ground of its wonderful variety of climate, altitude, soil, and topographical features, such as its plains, foothills, lower mountains, and towering peaks and ranges, bringing within its boundaries many eastern, boreal, middle western, and far western forms.
The author's preference would have been to begin the roll with the most interesting birds, those to which he gave the largest share of his attention, namely, the oscines, but he has decided to follow the order and nomenclature of the Check-List of North American birds as arranged by the American Ornithologists' Union. In deference to the general reader, however, he has placed the English name of each bird first, then the scientific designation. The numbers correspond to the American Check-List. By noting those omitted, the reader will readily discover what species have not been found in Colorado.
1. =Western grebe.= ÆCHMOPHORUS OCCIDENTALIS. Rare migrant; western species, chiefly interior regions of North America.
2. =Holboell's grebe.= COLYMBUS HOLBOELLII. Rare migrant; breeds far north; range, all of North America.
3. =Horned grebe.= COLYMBUS AURITUS. Rare migrant; range, almost the same as the last.
4. =American eared grebe.= COLYMBUS NIGRICOLLIS CALIFORNICUS. Summer resident; rare in eastern, common in western Colorado; breeds from plains to 8,000 feet; partial to alkali lakes; western species.
6. =Pied-billed grebe.= PODILYMBUS PODICEPS. Summer resident, rare; common in migration; breeds in northern part of State; sometimes winters in southern part.
7. =Loon.= GAVIA IMBER. Migrant; occasionally winter resident; not known to breed in State.
8. =Yellow-billed loon.= GAVIA ADAMSII. Migrant; rare or accidental.
9. =Black-throated loon.= GAVIA ARCTICA. Rare fall and winter visitant.
37. =Parasitic jaeger.= STERCORARIUS PARASITICUS. Fall and winter resident; rare.
40. =Kittiwake.= RISSA TRIDACTYLA. Rare or accidental in winter.
49. =Western gull.= LARUS OCCIDENTALIS. Pacific Coast bird; accidental in Colorado; only one record.
51a. =American herring gull.= LARUS ARGENTATUS SMITHSONIANUS. Rare migrant; range, the whole of North America.
53. =California gull.= LARUS CALIFORNICUS. Western species; breeds abundantly in Utah; only three records for Colorado.
54. =Ring-billed gull.= LARUS DELAWARENSIS. Not uncommon summer resident; common in migration; breeds as high as 7,500 feet; range, whole of North America.
58. =Laughing gull.= LARUS ATRICILLA. Bird of South Atlantic and Gulf States; once accidental in Colorado.
59. =Franklin's gull.= LARUS FRANKLINII. Rare migrant; range, interior of North America.
60. =Bonaparte's gull.= LARUS PHILADELPHIA. Rare migrant; not uncommon in a few localities; range, whole of North America.
62. =Sabine's gull.= XEMA SABINII. Rare winter visitant; breeds in the arctic regions.
69. =Forster's tern.= STERNA FORSTERI. Rare summer resident; common migrant; habitat, temperate North America.
71. =Arctic tern.= STERNA PARADISÆA. Very rare migrant; but two records; breeding habitat, circumpolar regions.
77. =Black tern.= HYDROCHELIDON NIGRA SURINAMENSIS. Common summer resident; both sides of range; habitat, temperate North America; in winter south as far as Brazil and Chili.
120. =Double-crested cormorant.= PHALACROCORAX DILOPHUS. Perhaps breeds in Colorado, as it breeds abundantly in Utah; all present records from eastern foothills.
125. =American white pelican.= PELECANUS ERYTHRORHYNCHOS. Once a common migrant; a few remained to breed; now rare; still noted on both sides of the range.
129. =American merganser.= MERGANSER AMERICANUS. Resident; common migrant and winter sojourner; a few breed in mountains and parks; generally distributed in North America.
130. =Red-breasted merganser.= MERGANSER SERRATOR. Rare winter sojourner; common migrant; breeds far north.
131. =Hooded merganser.= LOPHODYTES CUCULLATUS. Rare resident both summer and winter; breeds in eastern part and in the mountains; general range, North America.
132. =Mallard.= ANAS BOSCHAS. Very common in migration; common in winter; breeds below 9,000 feet, on plains as well as in mountains; general range, whole northern hemisphere.
134a. =Mottled duck.= ANAS FULVIGULA MACULOSA. Rare migrant; an eastern species, sometimes wandering west to plains.
135. =Gadwall.= CHAULELASMUS STREPERUS. Summer resident; common in migration; breeds on plains; also in sloughs and small lakes at an elevation of 11,000 feet in southern part of State; breeds abundantly at San Luis Lakes.
137. =Baldpate.= MARECA AMERICANA. Summer resident; breeds from plains to 8,000 feet.
139. =Green-winged teal.= NETTION CAROLINENSIS. Common summer resident; abundant in migration; a few breed on the plains; more in mountains and upper parks.
140. =Blue-winged teal.= QUERQUEDULA DISCORS. Same records as preceding.
141. =Cinnamon teal.= QUERQUEDULA CYANOPTERA. Common summer resident; breeds both east and west of the range; a western species; in winter south to Chili, Argentina, and Falkland Islands; sometimes strays east as far as Illinois and Louisiana.
142. =Shoveller.= SPATULA CLYPEATA. Summer resident; abundant in migration; breeds in suitable localities, but prefers mountain parks 8,000 feet in altitude; breeds throughout its range, which is the whole of North America.
143. =Pintail=. DAFILA ACUTA. Rare summer and winter resident; common migrant; mostly breeds in the North.
144. =Wood duck.= AIX SPONSA. Rare summer resident.
146. =Redhead.= AYTHYA AMERICANA. Common migrant; breeds far north; migrates early in spring.
147. =Canvas-back.= AYTHYA VALLISNERIA. Migrant; not common; breeds far north.
148. =Scaup duck.= AYTHYA MARILA. Rare migrant; both sides of the range; breeds far north.
149. =Lesser scaup duck.= AYTHYA AFFINIS. Migrant; not common; a little more common than preceding.
150. =Ring-necked duck.= AYTHYA COLLARIS. Rare migrant, though common in Kansas; breeds in far North.
151. =American golden-eye.= CLANGULA CLANGULA AMERICANA. Rare migrant; breeds far north.
152. =Barrow's golden-eye.= CLANGULA ISLANDICA. Summer and winter resident; a northern species, but breeds in mountains of Colorado, sometimes as high as 10,000 feet; rare on plains.
153. =Buffle-head.= CHARITONETTA ALBEOLA. Common migrant throughout State; breeds in the North.
154. =Old squaw.= HARELDA HYEMALIS. Rare winter visitor; a northern species.
155. =Harlequin duck.= HISTRIONICUS HISTRIONICUS. Resident; not common; a northern species, but a few breed in mountains at an altitude of 7,000 to 10,000 feet.
160. =American eider.= SOMATERIA DRESSERI. Very rare; only two records--one somewhat uncertain.
163. =American scoter.= OIDEMIA AMERICANA. Rare winter visitor; northern bird, in winter principally along the sea-coast, but a few visit the larger inland lakes.
165. =White-winged scoter.= OIDEMIA DEGLANDI. Same habits as preceding; perhaps rarer.
166. =Surf scoter.= OIDEMIA PERSPICILLATA. Same as preceding.
167. =Ruddy duck.= ERISMATURA JAMAICENSIS. Common summer resident; both sides of the range; breeds from plains to 10,000 feet; a beautiful bird; author's observations given in Chapter VII.
169. =Lesser snow goose.= CHEN HYPERBOREA. Migrant and winter resident; not common; breeds far north.
169a. =Greater snow goose.= CHEN HYPERBOREA NIVALIS. Rare migrant; only two records; the eastern form, which does not come regularly as far west as Colorado.
171a. =American white-fronted goose.= ANSER ALBIFRONS GAMBELI. Rare migrant; breeds far northward.
172. =Canada goose.= BRANTA CANADENSIS. Summer and winter resident; rare, except locally; common in migration; breeds about secluded lakes at 10,000 feet.
172a. =Hutchins's goose.= BRANTA CANADENSIS HUTCHINSII. Common migrant; breeds in the North; a few may winter in the State.
172c. =Cackling goose.= BRANTA CANADENSIS MINIMA. One record; Pacific coast bird; breeds in Alaska.
173. =Brant.= BRANTA BERNICLA. Rare or accidental migrant; an eastern species seldom coming west; breeds only within the Arctic Circle.
180. =Whistling swan.= OLOR COLUMBIANUS. Migrant; not common; formerly fairly plentiful; breeds far northward.
181. =Trumpeter swan.= OLOR BUCCINATOR. Rare migrant; not so common as preceding; breeds from Iowa and Dakota northward.
183. =Roseate spoonbill.= AJAJA AJAJA. Accidental; two instances; habitat, tropical and subtropical America.
184. =White ibis.= GUARA ALBA. Rare migrant; one taken on plains; habitat, tropical and subtropical America, coming north as far as Great Salt Lake and South Dakota.
[185.] =Scarlet ibis.= GUARA RUBRA. Accidental; one specimen taken; a wonderful record for this tropical species.
186. =Glossy ibis.= PLEGADIS AUTUMNALIS. Accidental; two fine specimens taken in the State; this is far out of its ordinary tropical range.
187. =White-faced glossy ibis.= PLEGADIS GUARAUNA. Summer visitor; rare; fairly common in New Mexico and Arizona; sometimes wanders into Colorado; Aiken found it breeding at San Luis Lakes.
188. =Wood ibis.= TANTALUS LOCULATOR. Rare summer visitor; southern range.
190. =American bittern.= BOTAURUS LENTIGINOSUS. Common summer resident; breeds throughout the State, from plains to about 7,000 feet.
191. =Least bittern.= ARDETTA EXILIS. Rare summer visitor; a few records east of mountains; one specimen seen west of the divide.
194. =Great blue heron.= ARDEA HERODIAS. Summer resident; common in migration; seldom goes far up in the mountains, though Mr. Aiken found one at an altitude of 9,000 feet.
196. =American egret.= ARDEA EGRETTA. Rare or accidental; one seen; general range, the whole of the United States; in winter south to Chili and Patagonia.
197. =Snowy heron.= ARDEA CANDIDISSIMA. Summer visitor; not known to breed; the highest altitude is the one taken near Leadville, 10,000 feet.
198. =Reddish egret.= ARDEA RUFESCENS. Rare or accidental; only two specimens secured; southern range.
202. =Black-crowned night heron.= NYCTICORAX NYCTICORAX NÆVIUS. Summer resident; not common; local; more plentiful in migration.
203. =Yellow-crowned night heron.= NYCTICORAX VIOLACEUS. Rare summer visitor; southern species; not known to breed in State.
204. =Whooping crane.= GRUS AMERICANA. Rare migrant; more common east of Colorado.
205. =Little brown crane.= GRUS CANADENSIS. Migrant; few taken; northern breeder.
206. =Sandhill crane.= GRUS MEXICANA. Summer resident; not uncommon locally; in migration common; breeds as high as 8,000 feet; has been seen in autumn passing over the highest peaks.
212. =Virginia rail.= RALLUS VIRGINIANUS. Summer resident; not uncommon; breeds on plains and in mountains to at least 7,500 feet.
214. =Sora.= PORZANA CAROLINA. Common summer resident; breeds from plains to 9,000 feet.
216. =Black rail.= PORZANA JAMAICENSIS. Rare migrant; one specimen secured.
219. =Florida gallinule.= GALLINULA GALEATA. Summer visitor, not known to breed.
221. =American coot.= FULICA AMERICANA. Common summer resident; breeds on plains and in mountain parks.
222. =Red phalarope.= CRYMOPHILUS FULICARIUS. Migrant; rare; once taken at Loveland by Edw. A. Preble, July 25, 1895. Breeds far north.
223. =Northern phalarope.= PHALAROPUS LOBATUS. Migrant; not uncommon; breeds far northward.
224. =Wilson's phalarope.= STEGANOPUS TRICOLOR. Common summer resident; more common in migration; breeds below 6,000 feet.
225. =American avocet.= RECURVIROSTRA AMERICANA. Common summer resident; occurs frequently on the plains; less frequent in mountains.
226. =Black-necked stilt.= HIMANTOPUS MEXICANUS. Summer resident; most common in the mountains, going as high as 8,000 feet; more common west of range than east.
228. =American woodcock.= PHILOHELA MINOR. Rare summer resident; Colorado the extreme western limit of its range, going only to foothills.
230. =Wilson's snipe.= GALLINAGO DELICATA. Rare summer resident; common migrant; winter resident, rare; found as high as 10,000 feet.
232. =Long-billed dowitcher.= MACRORHAMPHUS SCOLOPACEUS. Somewhat common migrant; all records restricted to plains; breeds far northward.
233. =Stilt sandpiper.= MICROPALAMA HIMANTOPUS. Rare migrant; breeds north of United States.
239. =Pectoral sandpiper.= TRINGA MACULTA. Common migrant; occurs from the plains to the great height of 13,000 feet.
240. =White-rumped sandpiper.= TRINGA FUSCICOLLIS. Not uncommon migrant; a bird of the plains, its western limit being the base of the Rockies; breeds in the far North.
241. =Baird's sandpiper.= TRINGA BAIRDII. Abundant migrant; breeds far north; returns in August and ranges over mountains sometimes at height of 13,000 to 14,000 feet, feeding on grasshoppers.
242. =Least sandpiper.= TRINGA MINUTILLA. Common migrant; found from plains to 7,000 feet.
243a. =Red-backed sandpiper.= TRINGA ALPINA PACIFICA. Rare migrant; only three records; range, throughout North America.
246. =Semipalmated sandpiper.= EREUNETES PUSILLUS. Common migrant; from the plains to 8,000 feet.
247. =Western sandpiper.= EREUNETES OCCIDENTALIS. Rare migrant; breeds in the remote North; western species, but in migration occurs regularly along the Atlantic coast.
248. =Sanderling.= CALIDRIS ARENARIA. Rare migrant, on plains; range nearly cosmopolitan; breeds only in northern part of northern hemisphere.
249. =Marbled godwit.= LIMOSA FEDOA. Migrant; not common; a bird of the plains, but seldom seen; occasionally found in the mountains.
254. =Greater yellow-legs.= TOTANUS MELANOLEUCUS. Common migrant; in favorable localities below 8,000 feet.
255. =Yellow-legs.= TOTANUS FLAVIPES. Common migrant; distribution same as preceding.
256. =Solitary sandpiper.= HELODROMAS SOLITARIUS. Summer resident; not common; in migration, common; breeds from plains to 10,000 feet.
258a. =Western willet.= SYMPHEMIA SEMIPALMATA INORNATA. Summer resident; not common; common migrant, especially in the fall; breeds from plains to 7,000 feet.
261. =Bartramian sandpiper.= BARTRAMIA LONGICAUDA. Common summer resident; abundant in migration; a bird of the plains; rare west of mountains.
263. =Spotted sandpiper.= ACTITIS MACULARIA. Abundant summer resident; breeds on the plains and at all intermediate altitudes to 12,000 feet, even on top of mountains of that height, if a lake or pond can be found; in fall, ranges above timber-line to 14,000 feet; some may remain throughout winter.
264. =Long-billed curlew.= NUMENIUS LONGIROSTRIS. Common summer resident; breeds on the plains; also in Middle and South Parks; found on both sides of the range.