Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the original (=bold face=).
BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES
by
LEANDER S. KEYSER
Author of "In Bird Land," Etc.
With Eight Full-page Plates (four in color) by LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES; Many Illustrations in the Text by BRUCE HORSFALL, and Eight Views of Localities from Photographs
With a Complete Check-List of Colorado Birds
Chicago . A. C. McClurg and Co. Nineteen Hundred and Two
Copyright A. C. McClurg & Co. 1902
Published September 27, 1902
TO KATHERINE AND THE BOYS
IN MEMORY OF MANY HAPPY DAYS BOTH INDOORS AND OUT
CONTENTS PAGE
UP AND DOWN THE HEIGHTS 19
INTRODUCTION TO SOME SPECIES 31
BALD PEAKS AND GREEN VALES 47
BIRDS OF THE ARID PLAIN 83
A PRETTY HUMMER 103
OVER THE DIVIDE AND BACK 117
A ROCKY MOUNTAIN LAKE 139
A BIRD MISCELLANY 149
PLAINS AND FOOTHILLS 177
RAMBLES ABOUT GEORGETOWN 197
HO! FOR GRAY'S PEAK! 223
PLEASANT OUTINGS 259
A NOTABLE QUARTETTE 285
CHECK-LIST OF COLORADO BIRDS 307
INDEX 349
ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL-PAGE PLATES
PLATE FACING PAGE
I. WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER--Sphyrapicus thyroideus Frontispiece
II. GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE--Pipilo chlorurus; SPURRED TOWHEE--Pipilo megalonyx 47
III. LAZULI BUNTING--Cyanospiza amoena 83
IV. LARK BUNTING--Calamospiza melanocorys 139
V. LOUISIANA TANAGER--Pyranga ludoviciana 177
VI. TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE--Myiadestes townsendii 223
VII. RUDDY DUCK--Erismatura rubida 259
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.
L. S. K.
All are needed by each one; Nothing is fair or good alone. I thought the sparrow's note from heaven, Singing at dawn on the alder bough; I brought him home, in his nest, at even; He sings the song, but it cheers not now, For I did not bring home the river and sky;-- He sang to my ear,--they sang to my eye.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON: Each and All.
Not from his fellows only man may learn Rights to compare and duties to discern; All creatures and all objects, in degree, Are friends and patrons of humanity. There are to whom the garden, grove, and field Perpetual lessons of forbearance yield; Who would not lightly violate the grace The lowliest flower possesses in its place; Nor shorten the sweet life, too fugitive, Which nothing less than infinite Power could give.
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH: Humanity.
Sounds drop in visiting from everywhere-- The bluebird's and the robin's trill are there, Their sweet liquidity diluted some By dewy orchard spaces they have come.
JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY: A Child World.
Even in the city, I Am ever conscious of the sky; A portion of its frame no less Than in the open wilderness. The stars are in my heart by night, I sing beneath the opening light, As envious of the bird; I live Upon the payment, yet I give My soul to every growing tree That in the narrow ways I see. My heart is in the blade of grass Within the courtyard where I pass; And the small, half-discovered cloud Compels me till I cry aloud. I am the wind that beats the walls And wander trembling till it falls; The snow, the summer rain am I, In close communion with the sky.
PHILIP HENRY SAVAGE.
BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES
UP AND DOWN THE HEIGHTS