Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-21
BIRDS OF THE DESERT
CHANGES LIFE THERE WORKS IN
CoLoRs OF PLUMAGE.
Few Vultures - Ravens Friends of
Transfers and Prospectors-Hawks
and Butcher Birds.
From the Los Angeles Times.

From the Los Angeles Times.
Contrary to common belief. there is an
abundance Of life, cree pins. crdw ing, walk
ing and flying. Throughout the desert. but
ike some other sec. or of country set
apart from the rest of the world by a great
natural barrier the flUnI of the desert is
essentially different from that of any other
part Of the new world
Bright colored birds and animals are
wanting In the Great BASIN and believe
that few seasons OF 4-fe there would work
an appreciable change ~ tie piumage of
any bird or tho pelage lf any animal. no
matter how vivid its % or.ng may have
been at time. The great redtalled
hawk, which. on this s-JDc. outs on very
brilliant red at the nesting season. remains
dull rusty brown al Jhe year through
on the desert 200 niles back of US. Quail
resident on the upper rtaches or two or
three desert rivers vi which am fami!-
lar are appreciably dui.cr Ia color than our
quail. while the two three nestfuls of
their eggs which have seen were not near
" 80 brightly marked
BY long odds the mos common bird or
the desert is the raven Black croaker
though he be. the raven do not appear the
bird of i'll omen as he g4aS happ ng across
the sky line that he does when seen here
amid more beautiful surroundings. Ihere
are few Vultures on the Geser.. and, to some
extent their duties fall upon the ravens
OF course. there IS no such need IN the dry
air of the basin for the scIvengers, as we
know them here. but around the ashes or
every campfire, almost before its makers
are fairly started on the trail. will gather
from one to dozen of the black winged
fellows picking over everything. even to
the charred sticks of the lire. in their search
for food. Life must be st enuous with them
when it comes mealtime for there is moth
ing save the refuse left by campers that
they can eat together with an occasional
field mouse or one of the fat wood rats Tor
the possession of which some wandering
Piute will, likely as not dispute with the
bird.
Ravens and Prospectors.
Around the camps the ravens come boldly,
knowing that the teamsters and other work
men OF the desert are their best friends.
Many a prospector has admitted that ne
owed his Ike. or at least the preservation
of his reason. to the presence of one of these
birds when he was almost lost, following a
long and lonely trail of whose end he was
not certain In such cases the raven will
fly leisurely, adapting its gait to that Of a
man and cawing querulous replies to the
words he may fling at it. Far out among
the lava buttes, often miles from water or
any apparent food supply. a pair of these
birds Will nest, rearing five or six young IN
a rude home hung well up in some crevice
or on a narrow ledge of the bare buttes
face
Hawks are also surprisingly common on
the desert, and one involuntarily wonders
on what they live until he has watched
them catching rats and rabbits some spring
evening. Toward the end of day the edges
of the mesquite thicketS in the lower parts
of the desert simply swarm with all the
rodents known TO inhabit the wide plain
During the middle of the day the same DIT
of country is supplied with lizards of ell
sizes from the two-foot chukawallahs to
the three-inch swifts. and on these the
hawks live right merrily. During my stay
of three winter months on one OF my trips
into the desert ! saw four different species
of hawks, all hunting about one dry lake
In the evening. These were Swainson's
hawk the western red-tailed hawk, the FER
ruginous rough-leg and the rare prairie fall
con. In the clear air of the desert Sky
these birds present a beautiful appearance
as>they wheel and dip IN pursuit of their
prey. They, too. nest on Lodges OF high
cliffs not probably, through fear of any
one bothering them, but because the trees
of this section so low and their branches
so weak as to AFFORD no suitable nesting
sites.
Fierce Butcher Birds.
There, too. III the midst of the rolling ex-
panse Of bare brush and sand. l saw an Old
friend. though there are doubtless many
who would not consider him in that light
the butcher bird Brave soldier of the bar
rem places, a fighter from the top of his
blue head TO the sole of his gray toes. I
heartily admire the butcher bird and con-
graduate him on the canarles and other
cage birds ne getS-the poor prisoners are
better of dead than alive-and. indeed, did
their human owners take due care OF their
pets they would not leave them out where
the gray-cOated marauder could get at
them. On the desert the shrIke seems to
get a good living. much as do the hawks
along the edge of the mesquite thickets- l
suspect, too, that on some portions OF this
region there are graSshopperS in plenty.
and OF all things the butcher bird is most
fond OF the long-legged hoppers. SORROW
hawks. little and agile. reminding one more
OF some gorgeous shrike than of bird of
prey. hunt over much the same country as
the butcher bird and seem to be even more
plentiful on the desert in autumn than they
are here. which is saying great deal. for
every walnut orchard is inhabited by a pair
Or two of these birds from September TO
April
OF a certainty there are spar-ows ON the
desert, sparrows small and gray, cal1red
very like the land and shrubs they live on
and among. They are the hardest Of all
things to see, and they seem even more
Becretive on the other side of the noun
tains than here, 50 that / saw but few of
them, save In cursory glances here and
there.
The liunets, however. were everywhere.
especially about the houses on the ranches
where We had occasion to stop. Along the
road they HVened many a mile with their
song. CHEEKY. but not loud. and have no
along the warehouses; and III the hOllows
where the shrubbery is Of sufficient growth
The western world does not seem to be able
to shake off the lnnet, and on the desert
they have absolutely no enemies save
hawks and an occasional snake.
Birds of the Great Basin.
Up and down the Great Basin in fall and
ngaiu in the spring travel bands of shore
birds (snipe. plover. sandpipers. etcJ and
hCrdes of ducks of every variety known to
the coast. Here they have found a safe and
clear way for their migration to northern
breeding grounds / do not suppose that
many Of them nest on the desert, or even
stay there through the nesting season, but
they are there in numbers at the time of
their travels. I mallards, gadwall
teal. pintail and redheads POSSIBLY canvas
backs. feeding In the same little lake in
the heart of the Moisve desert. to say moth
ing of small. scattering bands seen at other
pools. COots, our common 'mudhenS." are
found at every spring where any quantity
OF water has gathered into little lake, as
Is common with most desert springs. while