COLOR CLASSICS

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

VOL. XLVIII No. 2 FEBRUARY 1972

RAYMOND CARLSON, Editor Emeritus

JAMES E. STEVENS, Director of Publications

JOSEPH STACEY, Editor

GEORGE M. AVEY, Senior Associate Editor

WESLEY HOLDEN, Associate Editor

IN THIS ISSUE:

COLOR CLASSICS Page 3

SOUTHWESTERN ACADEMY Page 4

BIRDS OF THE MEXICAN BOUNDARY,

AND THE LOWER SOUTHWEST. Page 10

N.A.U. SCHOOL OF FORESTRY Page 42

OL' SHOOG Page 44

Yours Sincerely. Page 48

JACK WILLIAMS, Governor of Arizona

ARIZONA HIGHWAY COMMISSION

Lew Davis, Chairman. Tucson

Rudy Campbell, Vice Chairman. Tempe

Ben F. Williams, Member. Douglas

Walter W. Surrett, Member Payson

Walter A. Nelson, Member Sedona

Justin Herman, State Highway Director Phoenix

William N. Price, State Highway Engineer Phoenix

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS is published monthly by the Arizona Highway Department. Address: ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, 2039 W. Lewis Ave., Phoenix, Arizona 85009. $5.00 per year in U.S. and possessions; $6.00 elsewhere; 60 cents each. Second Class Postage paid at Phoenix, Arizona, under Act of March 3, 1879. Copyrighted 1972, by the Arizona Highway Dept.

PRINTED IN ARIZONA, U. S. A.

FRONT COVER - Black-chinned Hummingbird, enlarged to double the size of the actual bird which usually measures no more than three inches long, and weighs no more than a well circulated silver quarter. The female, after pairing, goes off alone to build a tiny nest of lichens and spiderwebs in a tree or a shrub along a desert stream to raise her young. This species is a common visitor to hummingbird feeders and will frequently hover near a person to examine a brightly colored object which might be a food source.

INSIDE FRONT COVER The Snowy Egret was once slaughtered by the thousands for its lovely white plumes which were used to adorn women's wearing apparel. These long plumes develop during the breeding season and the birds are extremely vulnerable during this period when their activities are confined to the nest area. This decimation has been stopped, and the necessity of maintaining adequate Harsh situation is urgent for the continuation of this truly beautiful creature.

ARIZONA IS FOR THE BIRDS AND BEES . . . AND PEOPLE

If we've heard it once, we've heard it at least one hundred times Arizona is for the birds.

What a glorious and beautiful compliment, because it takes a special kind of blessing to be worthy of our beautiful birds. There are many reasons why our sunny state is so alluring to birds, enchanting to nature lovers, and especially to people who are for the birds.

Although the entire state abounds with birds, there is no place in our United States which equals the, avian paradise found in southeastern Arizona. Here at all temperature and elevation levels the display of birds and their affinity for the environs have an intriguing charm unmatched anywhere.

During the year past there were more birds sighted in Arizona than ever before. Evidently they don't react the same as humans to things like air pollution, water contamination, and everything else that is driving men to the psychiatric clinics.

Our friend and frequent contributor from Tucson, Pete Cowgill reported on a place called Ramsey Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains, recognized as the Hummingbird capital of the United States. There, at their Mile-Hi Lodge, London born Joan Peabody and her husband Carroll feel that people have brought more birds into the state because they supplement the natural feeding areas and supply regardless of seasons. Five years ago no more than six hummingbird species were reported. There are 14 species listed in Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds. Last year at Mile-Hi 13 of those 14 species were sighted. One species, the Berylline, is not even in the book, but has been photographed at the Peabody feeders where at times as many as 500 hummingbirds of various species are feeding at one time.

Joan can identify at least 10 of the 15 known United States species by the sound of their wing beats and their song. Even professional ornithologists, with binoculars and Peterson's latest edition in hand can't do it. It's no wonder she is known as the Hummingbird Lady.

There are 319 species of Hummingbirds recorded in the world. Sixty of these are found in Mexico, but only 15 are known (to date) to summer or breed in the United States and 14 of them love Ramsey Canyon.

We were very fortunate to have Daniel Fischer's photographs as the main photographic source for this special edition. All of Dan's photographs were taken in the birds' natural "wilderness" habitat, using no flash bulbs or stroboscopic illumination. During more than 20 years of studying the birds and their ways, Dan also recorded on tape, mating calls, mother birds talking to their young, and bird songs, which he used from time to time when necessary. His collection of slides numbers into the hundreds and Dan enjoys his avocation of illustrated lectures to educational groups. Willis Peterson and Bill Ratcliffe are well known to ARIZONA HIGHWAYS readers, and their work appears often in Audubon Magazine, National Wildlife and other fine publications After reading Winifred Kennedy's manuscript about Southwestern Academy I wished I were a young man again so I might spend several of the beautiful years of my life at such a school. I never had the build nor the courage to be a lumberjack, especially the log-rollin' kind, but I'm sure that the creatures of the forest and meadow thank God for the boys and girls who major in Forestry at Northern Arizona University.

Don Dedera will be happy and surprised to see his "Ol' Shoog" in print. And I'm sure no one will be happier than Bob Capps, formerly of Shakelford County, Texas, and now of Phoenix; and the thousands of Arizonans who knew and loved Don when he was one of us. He is a free-lance writer working from San Diego, California.

Don't be alarmed at the format and layout of this magazine. We'll have many issues with the traditional full page, half page and double page photographs of our scenic beauties. Every issue is a brand new challenge, and we try to "tailor-make" every "suit to fit the body" all brand new each time no second time hand-me-downs. You deserve nothing less, and we enjoy nothing more than the pleasure of trying to do our best for you... JOSEPH STACEY