(^0 



home. If it is not found at home at all seasons of the year it is simpU' be- 

 cause it has g-one visiting', or to winter in some other region with milder cli- 

 mate. A bird is a sort of aristocrat and able to visit different climes. We 

 cannot all go to Florida in winter, but birds can if they so desire. Not- 

 withstanding this habit of many of our birds of retiring- to the southward, 

 moi-e than one hundred species have been taken or seen inside our borders 

 during winter, representing- the fact that at least this many winter here. 

 (Juite a number of these that winter with us also spend the summer here. 

 A few others come to us from the regions farther north and remain over 

 winter. 



Now why is it that we have so many birds in Nebraska? I do not like 

 to be referring to that old worn-out subject of the location of Nebraska, the 

 variation in surface configuration of the state, the difference in altitude of 

 different sections, and so on, but lean hardU' avoid speaking of these points 

 here. Everj' one of you upon looking at that map of Nebraska can see that 

 it is located centrally between the floor and ceiling; just about such a posi- 

 tion has Nebraska with reference to the rest of the states. In the south- 

 east corner it reaches but little more than 800 feet above tide water; we 

 have a belt of timber along- the eastern edg-e of the state; there are isolated 

 groves immediateh' back of this with prairie between; and farther on are 

 found broad prairies without timber belts; and still farther west are found 

 plains conditions. "We have moist, medium and arid regions in the state. 

 We have mountain, plain, prairie, and forest conditions. The Missouri 

 river with its broad valley is a great roadway for the migrating birds in 

 passing from the south to the north, and from north to south. The branch- 

 ing valleys with their streams extending^ back towards the west form other 

 roadways for the birds in their distribution over the state. The lakes of 

 the sandhills, and the sandhills themselves, offer retreats for birds that find 

 no suitable home in anj- other region except these particular localities. You 

 see, as I said, we are half way between the east and the west, the south and 

 the north, and we receive birds from all of these regions. We have nearly 

 all the forms that occur in the eastern states. The eastern edge of Nebras- 

 ka possesses the same bird fauna as Iowa, Illinois, and other states of like 

 latitude. As we proceed a little farther west we find birds which come in- 

 to the countr3' from Mexico and reach our central and western regions. 

 These are those that are at home on the Mexican plateau and on the eas- 

 tern slopes of the Cordilleras of Mexico during portions of the year; and 

 then still farther west we come to the mountain conditions. Diverging 

 from the Rockj^ Mountains, the Black Hills range extends toward the north- 

 east into South Dakota, and again giving off a spur to the eastward fur- 

 nishes in Pine Ridge suitable conditions for mountain birds along a great 

 portion of our north and northwestern territory-. We also have a number 

 of bird visitors in northwest Nebraska in winter that do not reach western 

 Kansas, or Iowa and regions farther east. Although we have very little 

 water in the shape of lakes and ponds in the state, there are few water 

 birds of the United States not strictly maritime but that reach Nebraska; 

 in fact some seem to be more partial to the waters of our state than to tho.se 

 of more eastern localities. 



