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<br />bro~srr in general, espre'tall)• abEU:t the f.rcr ~uu! .ac; thr~ crown and up~r~~r h.r~h, ihtui"`'
<br />`V an tncubaling fertutle (G!~'IS Kf~4)7 f I collectcrl on April ~1, 1939, ut an ales atron u(
<br />-- ab;,ut IO.000 feet, near Las Vigas, Veracruz- iVfexico. 'I'Ite [-ubhuck bird presumably
<br />rrtrr.~s~nts the narninate rare ~ tvurg, chord, 119 ram., primaries pressed slat- i'L9); it
<br />is tt~w housed with our- bird ajl)ection, a1 the university of Oklahoma.-Grrorge~
<br />' lfiksch .Sutton, Uepnrtrrtr-nt ufLvolog} . ('nirr•rsi1~ nJ Dl laharrta, n'urman, Uklu~
<br />boron. -
<br />IyTYCHOC}iEILL?S l_UCI[,'S ,C1'PR[NIDA4~:1 IV THE SAN Jl'AN 1'iIVER,
<br />NE6ti' MEXiGO-E~Iearsay reports suggesting the presence of the (;alorudo }liver
<br />x;uawfish, Ptychociteilus luaus Girard, is northwestern Now Mexico (Koster,
<br />i'Viltiatn J., l95t', Grside to the ~isl:r~s of hew ;~lezico. Univ. of New iVlexiro Press,
<br />,~Ilruquerque, New Mexico- viii -i- 116 pp.} ~n~cre recently confirmed by the receipt
<br />of two specimens captured by 11 r. Milton Seibel of Arboles, Colorado. "Ihese are the
<br />fit~t specimens known from the San Juan pat'tion of the Cohorttdo River Basin.
<br />Since little seems to ha recorded far this- thr~ larf%est species a[ Nerth American
<br />C~ trrinidae-, tlia~ following n<,tes ore t:irpertded_
<br />'}-he first spcciua~n, an adult orate=, ~f5 ram. s[attdard length. was takcti in .fun',
<br />19'3"x. 7'he second, an adult Ir-male, 59l) nuu_ stand,n•d length, was captured nn
<br />August, 29, ]3541 during my visit to the area. The digestive. tract of the fenialc
<br />contained parts of a half-grown aucker, Catostornus latipinnis. The male was empty.
<br />In life the female was silvery olive nn the snout, opercle, and dorsal portion of the
<br />tread and body; somewhat ye!?uwish aloof; the sides, especially posteriorly; aacl
<br />whitish on the ventral sttrtace. The fins were pale olive suffused with" 1~ink. An
<br />grange spot, about the sire of the eye, was prestutt on eac}~+ cheek and a third was
<br />presNnt on the left side just abut e the ~-ant. The iris was golden about the pupil and
<br />;ilverv elsevvhere. The freshfrozen male was aimilar except that it lacked the
<br />orange sf,ofs.
<br />l3uth individuals were caul,ftt iu the same pool of the San .Tuan River about 3
<br />--~ miles below the town of Rosa. 13io Art°iba County, New ~lezicn. The pool is about
<br />ti00 feet long, 100 feet wide. and between ~ and F feet deep. Aping one side is a
<br />rr~ckv bluff i5 to ?U fern high end along the uthr~r is a sloptttq, floodplam meadow.
<br />'hhe hcittont of tire. goal is crrcerrd with sr~(t silt exempt near the tetiper enl where
<br />sand, gravel, and rubble are et(;croed. 'I-tee rtl'lle lust above the pool is neither as
<br />swift oar as well-defined as are utost others i» the area. It is about 150 feet long,
<br />75 feet wide, 2%g feet deep, and Itas a strong cw~rent. The female PtychochFilus was
<br />captured in moderately strong current near the c:nd of this riffle.
<br />qtr. Seibel, a reared gentlenuui who presrntt}• slterufs much time fishing th,r~
<br />~~ streams of the area, reports that vslnton, as they are called by those who distinguish
<br />~,~ t}teni from the stouter, but smaller, "whitefish" (-Gila rvl~usta), ar°e usually
<br />caught b}• persons angling for eltannrl catfi>lt. Apparently, the species is not conunon
<br />for persistent anglers catch ao utore than two or thrc+e "salmon" a year. The
<br />largest caught in the area weighed twenty pounds. Because "salmon" fight so welt,
<br />they are usually returned unharmed to the water so that they Wray fight again,
<br />"~S'hitefish," on the other hand, are cast on the bank. "Baboon" have been caught
<br />in the San Ivan River from the Navajo Darn Site, which is just below the mouth
<br />of Los Pinos River, to the mouth of Las Piedras River to extreme southern Colorado,
<br />Although all are good-sized su•rams, "selnion" have not been taken in Los Pinos,
<br />is
<br />Las Piedras, or the Sat Juan eltove its jwtction with Las Piedras.
<br />A[ the beginning of my visit, the San Juan River was high and heavily charged
<br />Nith erosion silt brought in }>y recent reins. By the end of the week, the stream had
<br />•
<br />~uhsidcrf and lust rr.u~t of its lcrul but was still forbid; trvuispurency way atbout one
<br />inch. As judged by conditions whc+n the river bed nearly returned trt its nurnrol
<br />stage, this portion of the San Juan River is fairly uniform in width, about 10U feet
<br />across, with the }roofs smnew}tnt wider and riffles somewhat narrower. Most pools
<br />xre several hundred yards lung and have a thick, soft layer of silt aver a gravel
<br />bottom. '1-he riffles are two or three feat deep most of the w+ry across, are swift and,
<br />because the bottom is of rounded and firmly ern bedded gravel and rubbles, contain
<br />relatively little shelter for fish.
<br />The fish Fauna of this section of the San Juan River has not been ode<tuately,
<br />sampled, but it is known to include the flannelmouth sucker, Catostomus laupinnis
<br />Baird and Girard; bluehead mountain sucker, Pantosteus delphinus (cope); bonY-
<br />tail, Cila'rohusta Baird and Girard; dusky dace, Rhirrichthyr osculus (Girard);
<br />fathead minnow, Yirr:ephales ~rornelas (Rafinesque), channel catfish, lctalurus
<br />punctatus lRafinesquel; blue catfish, lctalurus (urcatus (LeSueurj; and the scultrin,
<br />Cothts bairdi Girard, Mr. Seibel reports that Wack bullheads and another species,
<br />whose descripticm suggests to nu' ~yrrruclten racoons (Abbottj, era also t;tken
<br />aa:asioitelly.
<br />The Iutw•e of the PtyehuchPilus population in the San Juan River is uncertain
<br />because Navajo Kura, now under rou,truction, will (food the entire portion of the
<br />river from which the species Itas brew reported.
<br />The author vvisltes to thank Mr. Milton Seibel For the dana[ion of the two spect-
<br />tnens and for other courtesies. Thanks are also due to llr. A. E. Dittert who, alerted
<br />for specimens, secured the first one froru Mr. Seibel.-Williant I. Koster, University
<br />of Nero Mezica, Albuquerque:.
<br />ACORN WOODPECKER IN OKL.AIIOMA.--At f,45 r'.~r. Jamtary l6, 19t?fl, a
<br />single Acorn W<xulpecker (lE'Irlanerpes Jor+~riciuorus) was seen in the oak-cedar°
<br />association of the he-adyuarters err=a of thq Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge,
<br />Comanche County, Okluhonta. The. bird, yvhich was observed for several minutes
<br />at a distance of less th~ur twenty feet, wars evidently an adult female as the Mark
<br />band between xhite furehut?l and rrrd crown was clearly visible. A little utore than
<br />hvo boors after this uluervati~ni a sleet str?rm enveloped this southwestern Oklahoma
<br />location. Again, ou the utorning of Jttnu~rrv 27, 1YIrs, Halloran saw a aintilar Acorn
<br />Woodpecker at the same location. "l'hc senior author was nearb}~, saw the bird, and
<br />veriFied the idcntiticatiun_ ~~'e trolified llr. George Ni. Sutton, ilniverait}' of
<br />Oklahoma, of Ibis occurrence curl he added the species to the Oklahoma list tilers.
<br />comm.). Since these observatirtris, rut acorn woodpecker has Bern seen tweuty~Four
<br />different days ut the senor Iocatiun. "I'hc last siKhtirig was cantle April 2•!~ by Lanes
<br />f.. Norman, Muskogee, Oklahoma. It is asswned that these obscrwrtions arc of a
<br />single inliviductl. A shall group of the closely allied red-headed woodpeckers
<br />(Melanerpes erythrocrp{urlus) have wintered in the immediate vicinity. Several
<br />times both an acorn woodpecker and a redheaded woodpecker were Bern together
<br />on the same blackjack oak.
<br />Since the above observations 1)r. Sutton (pers. comm.) found that a bird in the
<br />Northwestern State College Collection, Alva, Oklahoma, identified and reported
<br />ihrouglr the years as a Lewis's Woodpecker, is actually an Acorn Woodpecker. Thu
<br />bird, un adult, was taken in ~~Voods County, Oklahoma in 1JOti by G. W. Stevens.
<br />--Arthur h'. and Audre7• G, Halloran, Wi~i[a Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Cache,
<br />Oklahoma. '
<br />~~.~oSou~~~. ~fi ~C~~: 1 ~~ ;~75
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