| OCR Text |
Show 1 3 0 4 REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF ENGINEERS. tenant M. M. Macomb, to which I was attached for the season, left Carson on the 15th of September, and from that date till the termination of my field- work, except a period of ten days from November 10 to the 20th, which I speut at Carson, I was occupied in the immediate vicinity of Lake Tahoe, or in the mountaius lying contiguous to it. It will thus be seen that the season's results fall under two distinct heads, according as thgy were obtained in the valleys to the east of and- adjoining the main chain, or were derived from observations in the mountains. In presenting lists of the birds observed, with snch notes as I was able to gather, I have thus divided them. In connection with my work it is pleasant to be able to speak of the assistance and co- operation so cordially extended to me by the officer in charge, as well as by the remaining members of the party. Furthermore, I have to gratefully acknowledge the substantial assistance received from Mr. H. G. Parker, of Carson City, Nev., not only in the shape of rare birds, the results of his enthusiastic labors, but also for much information concerning the haunts of birds, which his thorough acquaintance with the country enabled him to supply. By the last week in August such of the birds as still remained in the neighborhood, and which do not wiuter here, had either congregated in flocks or were in the act of assembling, preparatory for their departure in search of a more congenial winter climate ; while not a few of the less hardy species, as the tanagers, orioles, grosbeaks, & c, bad already taken their leave; hence a very considerable number of species that are common to the region as summer visitants were not seen at all by us; from which fact it results that our list of the birds no'iced during the season is very far from being a complete enumeration of the actual number of species belonging to this region. The valley, on the west side of which Carson City is situated,. does not possess, owing to the almost complete absence of timber, the natural characteristics which serve to attract a great number of species of birds. Along the banks of the Carson River, and fringing the borders of the other small streams, especially where they debouch from the mountains, is found a limited amoant of shrubbery, which serves to invite and give shelter to the species that usually frequent similar localities. The remainder of the valley, not lying close enough to the streams to admit of irrigation and cultivation, is clothed only and everywhere with sage- brush and grease- wood, and is inhabited by but a limited number of the feathered tribe. The foot- hills and eastern faces of the mountains immediately overlooking the Washoe and Carson Valleys were formerly covered with a dense pine forest, which closely hemmed in the valleys. Within a few years this has been entirely swept away, leaving the hills comparatively, and in some places absolutely, denuded of vegetation. As a consequence, most of the wood- loving species that formerly extended down to, or even into, the valleys, have retreated upward, and now ouly appear below as occasional stragglers, or in winter. The avifauna of the region about Carson, the mountains being excluded, offers to our notice little or nothing that is peculiar, or that will serve to distinguish it from that much farther to the eastward. In fact, a large proportion of the forms are those common to the interior province generally, of which the entire eastern portion of Nevada may be regarded as an integral part. It is only when we leave the pla^ is and low. open valleys, and ascend into the foothills, that we begin to meet with any well- marked change in the aspect of the bird-life. This change is a somewhat abrupt one, and is quite strictly coincident with the line of deniarkation between the valleys and the elevated foot- hills, being hence chiefly indicated by the presence of snch species as are pre- eminently mountain forms. Thus in the shrubbery skirting the foot- hills, and in the ravines, we find the California jay ( Cyanocitta var. caltfornica.) Reaching the foot- hills the mountain- quail begins to be numerous.* Still higher np the shrubbery of the mountains was found to be the home of the curions Thick- billed sparrow { Vasserella var. megaryncha.) It is, however, in the piue region proper that the change becomes most marked. Here are found Tardus ustalatus ; Cyanura var. frontalis ; Selasporus rufus ; Sphyrap-icus ruber and Pious albolarvatus. All of the above species are found as regular summer inhabitants of this region, while the woodpeckers and jays are constant residents. From the occurrence of these species, which may be regarded as belonging essentially to the Pacific proviuce, along this, the eastern slope of the Sierra Range, we may safely draw the line which shall divide the middle from the Pacific proviuce ac the foot of the eastern slope of the mountains, and consider this slope of the main chain as belonging, so far as its avian fauna is concerned, to the Pacific province. t * As ascertained by Mr. Ridgway, this species is found somewhat farther to the eastward, reaching the mountains by means of the connecting foot- hills. The flocks appear, however, to be little else than Btragglers, and with the eastern alone of the mam chain this bird ceases to be common, and the species is soon lost altogether. t Two of the mammals found by us along this slope also point to the same conclusion. The large Spermopilus instead of being the interior form grammurus is the var. beechyie of the Pacific proviuce. Similarly the small Sciurus is douglasii instead of richardsoni* |
