LAZULI BUNTING 113 



habitat in the lower portions of the mountains. A. M. Woodbury 

 (1941) mentions it as being attracted with other species to the oaks. 



In Colorado F. M. Drew (1885) and other later observers report 

 this species as breeding from the Plains area, elevation about 5,000 

 feet, to as high as 7,000 feet in the mountains. C. W. Beckman (1885) 

 reported it as common in the vicinity of Pueblo along the rivers and 

 creeks where vegetation is comparatively luxuriant rather than in 

 the cactus — sagebrush wasteland. M. F. Oilman (1907) reports that 

 at Fort Lewis in southwest Colorado, elevation 7,500 feet, it is rather 

 common and nests in the small wild cherry shrubs and in the wild 

 roses. In the western part of the State it frequents the open 

 scrub-oak country in well-watered localities. 



The records of this species for New Mexico are scant considering its 

 commoness in Colorado and Arizona. There are only three positive 

 records for the State, two at elevations of 7,000 feet. 



In Oklahoma Mrs. M. M. Nice (1939) reported the lazuli bunting 

 as a rare summer resident in Cimarron County, the most western 

 county of the State. 



This species has been reported from western Nebraska and Kansas 

 and may breed there. In the Dakotas it is listed as an uncommon 

 summer resident partial to the willows of the Upper Austral Zone. 



A. A. Saunders (1921) describes the lazuli bunting as a "common 

 summer resident throughout the western half of Montana, becoming 

 rather rare eastward, but evidently found throughout the state." It 

 breeds "in the Transition Zone, in low thicket bushes, such as wild 

 rose, currant, gooseberry and similar shrubs. All observers in the 

 mountainous parts of the state report this species as common, not in 

 the higher mountains, but in the foothills." In Wyoming M. Cary 

 (1917) listed it as among the breeding birds of the Upper Sonoran 

 Zone and J. A. Neilson (1925) as a common nesting bird in the plum 

 thickets of the North Laramie River at 6,000 to 7,000 feet. 



This species is found throughout Idaho. In the south it breeds in 

 the undergrowth of the willow thickets along the creeks. In the 

 north it has been observed at elevations of 2,000 feet to as high as 

 6,000 feet in the wooded valleys and brushy hillslopes of the Transition 

 Zone, in the thickets and underbrush, and in areas under cultivation. 



Except in the highest mountains, it is a common summer resident 

 of all of eastern Oregon, where it frequents the willow thickets along 

 the streams. In the John Day region of the central part of the State 

 it was observed by Loye Miller (1904) in the tall sage. According 

 to Gabrielson and Jewett (1940), it is an equally abundant resident 

 of the Rogue, Umpqua, and Willamette river valleys west of the 

 Cascades from the valley floors to an elevation of 4,000 feet. It is 

 less abundant on the coast. 



