and the habits of the species unknown. Through the government explorations, however, we have been made more familiar with its habits and peculiarities.
Myiadestes townsendi.
Dr. Newberry, in his report on the Zoölogy of Lieutenant Williamson’s explorations, mentions finding this bird very abundant in the Des Chutes Basin. It did not frequent either dense forests or prairies destitute of trees, but seemed to select surfaces covered with a scattered growth of pine and cedar. His party first met with it at the base of Mount Jefferson, in the cañon of Mpto-ly-as River. In picking his way with infinite difficulty down this gorge, his attention was drawn by its new and attractive song. There were several of them in the pines and cedars growing on the face of the cliff. He describes its song as clear, full, and melodious, like that of a true Mimus. The next day, as he followed down the river, in the bottom of the cañon the deep gorge was filled with a chorus of sweet sounds from thousands of these birds. He describes them as having a habit of sitting on the branch of a tree projecting over a stream, or hanging from some projecting crag, and at times flying out in narrow circles, after insects, precisely in the manner of Flycatchers.
Afterwards, in another cañon, the terraced banks of which were sparsely set with low trees of the Western cedar, he again found these birds quite numerous, and had every opportunity both of hearing and of seeing them, watching them for hours while feeding and singing. They began their songs with the first dawn of day, and at sunrise the valley was perfectly vocal with their music. He describes their song as not greatly varied, but speaks of all their notes as particularly clear and sweet, and with strains of pure gushing melody that were both spontaneous and inspiring. At that time, September 30, they were feeding on the berries of the cedar. They were very shy, and could only be obtained by stratagem.
Dr. Kennerly, in his Report on the birds observed in the explorations under the charge of Lieutenant Whipple, speaks of meeting with these birds in the Rocky Mountains, in the vicinity of the Pueblo of Zuñi, in New Mexico. Thence, westward, he occasionally met with it, and usually in the cedar thickets.
Dr. Suckley mentions, in his Report on the Zoölogy of Washington Territory, obtaining a specimen of this species at Fort Steilacoom, April 28, 1856. It was very wild and difficult of approach. It was the only specimen obtained, and he considered it accidental west of the Cascade Mountains. Dr. Cooper, in the same Report, speaks of obtaining a specimen near Fort Laramie in October, where it seemed to be not uncommon.
Dr. Cooper, in his Birds of California, dwells with much emphasis upon the delightful melody of this species. Having always found them silent, and with habits like the Flycatchers’, he was quite unprepared to hear them singing in the Sierra Nevada, and, if he had not obtained the bird, would not have believed that one of this family was capable of singing with such power. Their song, he says, can be compared with nothing uttered by any other bird he has ever heard in the United States; for, he adds, it excels that of the Mocking-Bird in sweetness, besides being entirely original.
He met with only a few of this species among some junipers on the western slope near the summit, in September, 1863. He has always met with them nearly singly. Dr. Henry found them at Fort Webster, New Mexico, in large numbers, both in fall and in winter. Their home, Dr. Cooper thinks, seems to be in the vicinity of the great deserts of the central regions, or the cedar-covered mountains that intersect them.
Dr. Woodhouse obtained several specimens on the Zuñi Mountains in New Mexico, and from there westward found it exceedingly abundant. Its food seemed to be exclusively berries, and chiefly those of the cedar.