286 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



were making the most of the abundance of food. These birds were 

 observed commonly throughout the open country on this trip." 



George F. Simmons (1925) says that, in the vicinity of Austin, 

 Tex., the mountain bluebird "appears in these comparative lowlands 

 usually during very cold weather or during the rare snowstorms and 

 accompanying freezes, which remain for several days." 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range.— Western North America from Alaska and northern Can- 

 ada south to northern Mexico. 



Breeding range.- — The mountain bluebird breeds north to east cen- 

 tral Alaska (Fairbanks, Lake Mansfield, and Ketchumstock) ; south- 

 western Yukon (Dawson, probably; Selkirk, and Lake Lebarge); 

 possibly southwestern Mackenzie, since it has been taken in summer 

 at Fort Franklin, Great Bear Lake (type specimen), and at Hay 

 River and Fort Resolution on Great Slave Lake; north central Alberta 

 (Lesser Slave Lake and Boyle) ; southern Saskatchewan (Cypress 

 Hills, Wood Mountain, and Yorkton) ; and southern Manitoba 

 (Aweme, Lake St. Martin, probably, and Richer). East to south- 

 eastern Manitoba (Richer); western North Dakota (Fort Union, 

 Arnegard, and Medora); western South Dakota (Short Pine Hills 

 and the Black Hills) ; northwestern Nebraska (Pine Ridge and other 

 points in Dawes and Cheyenne Counties) ; eastern Wyoming (Laramie 

 Mountains, Cheyenne, and Sherman) ; central Colorado (Estes Park, 

 Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Fort Garland); extreme 

 northwestern Oklahoma (Black Mesa region); and the mountains of 

 New Mexico (Halls Peak, Pecos Baldy, Ribera, and the Sacramento 

 Mountains). South to southern New Mexico (Sacramento Moun- 

 tains and Silver City) ; central Arizona (White Mountains and Mogol- 

 lon Mountains) ; and southern California (San Bernardino Mountains). 

 West to central southern California (San Bernardino Mountains), 

 the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges in California (Walker Pass, 

 Sequoia Park, Fyffe, Mount Sanhedrin, and Mount Shasta) ; western 

 Oregon (Swan Lake, Fort Klamath, Saddle Mountain, and Portland) ; 

 western Washington (Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier) ; western 

 British Columbia (Horseshoe Lake, Oyster River, Vancouver Island, 

 Smithers, Atlin, and Bennett) ; and eastern Alaska (Taku River, Mc- 

 Carthy, and Fairbanks). 



Winter range. — The mountain bluebird winters north casually to 

 central Washington (Yakima and Spokane), southwestern Idaho 

 (Meridian); northern Utah (Salt Lake City and Provo), and central 

 Colorado (Grand Junction and Denver). East to central Colorado 

 (Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo); eastern New Mexico (Las 

 Vegas and the Guadalupe Mountains) ; western Chihuahua (Pacheco) ; 



