Nov., x9o7 A NEW BREEDING BIRD FOR COLORADO

During the three weeks following the date upon which the nest was found we paid especial attention to the sparrows observed, and on each of the three trips over the section surrounding the nesting site we were fortunate enough to see sev- eral of the birds, only one of which was taken however, as in every other instance save this one we were positive of our identity without taking the birds. It is prac- tically impossible to derive any deductions from our observations as to whether the bird occurs regularly or whether we simply happened on to a community of them, but we are positive that we saw at least a dozen individuals in a radius of two miles surrounding the spot where the nest was found. On one occasion Mr. Hersey saw one of the birds going thru their character- istic performance of rising perpendicularly into the air and slowly descending in full song. Dr. Heermann in speaking of this peculiarity of the species describes it as rising with a tremulous motion of its wings some twenty feet or more and then descending again in the same manner to within a few yards of the spot whence it started and accompanying its entire flight with a lengthened and pleasing song. This peculiarity, while men- tioned by nearly all authori- ties, was seen by us only once, probably on account of the lateness of the season. Prof. W. W. Cooke in his Second Appeudixto TheBirds of Colorado, in speaking of the habitat of this species, quotes from the A.O.U.Check- list, as follows: "Central and Western Kansas, southward and westward thru Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern Nevada," and fur- ther says: "It would be diffi- cult to have a bird a rather common summer resident over the west half of Kansas, also common in New Mexico at the same season, and not have it occur in southeastern Colo- -EST AN-1) IGGS OF THE CASSIN SPARROVe rado; but up to the present time (1900) no one has found it in the state." This surmise was later verified by Mr. E. R. Warren who published the fol- lowlug, which is an extract from "A Collecting Trip in Southeastern Colorado" (CoNDO} Vol. VIII, No. 1; January, 1906). Under the heading of Cassin Spar- row, he says, "A specimen of this species was takeu May 27th near Springfield [Baca County]. The bird was on a wire feuce near Cat Creek south of the town. Its breast was quite bare of feathers so that it may have been incubating." Col. N. S. Goss in his History oftc Birds of Itnsas classes it as "Summer resident; in the middle and western part of the state, common. Arrives about the middle of May, begins laying early in June and leaves in September." These statements seem to establish the fact beyond question that the extreme northwestern limit of the Cassin Sparrow as it is known at present, is the western

boundary of Kansas, but the above records for Colorado and the finding of nest