1921 



BIRDS OF MONTANA 



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])etween the associations are not very clear. Badlands, prairie buttes, rim- 

 rocks, cliffs along river canyons, steep mountain sjdes, talus slopes and moraines 

 all attract certain forms of bird life. The Say Phoebe, Rock Wren and Cliff 

 Swallow are abundant about the drier rocks of the prairies. White-throated 

 Swifts occur locally. Violet-green Swallows are abundant in river canyons. The 

 Duck Hawk and Prairie Falcon, the Western Redtail and Ferruginous Rough-leg, 

 the Golden Eagle, Horned Owl and Raven all nest on more or less inaccessible 

 cliffs. The Townsend Solitaire inhaliits rock piles in the higher mountains, while 

 about the glacial moraines above timberline the Gray-crowned Rosy Finch and, 

 perhaps, the Black Rosy Finch, are to be found. 



Shrub associations cover larger areas than any we have so far considered, 

 except the grass associations, and they support a very much larger amount of 

 bird life even than those. They are therefore of greater importance. In fact, 

 taken acre for acre, I believe they support the greatest amount of bird life of 



Fig. 5. A TRAXSIEXT PRAIRIE SLOUGH, TETOX COUiXTY, SUCH AS FORM BREEDING 



grounds for many water birds. about this one the horned grebe, sora, 

 Wilson Phalarope, Killdeer, Redwings and Savannah Sparrows nested. 

 Wheat Stubble in the foregroltnd. Transition zone. Photo by A. D. 

 DuBois. ■■ 



any group of associations in the state. There are several different shrub associa- 

 tions, four of which are widely distributed and easily recognized. These are the 

 sage-brush, willow thicket, wild rose and cinquefoil associations. 



The willow thicket is the most important, being found over large areas antl 

 supporting the largest number of birds both as to species and individuals. It 

 occurs from Sonoran to Canadian, and differs somewhat in the different zones. 

 Some of the species breeding in this association at low elevations are the Traill 

 Flycatcher, Magpie, Western Crow, Brewer Blackbird, Song Sparrow, Arctic 

 Towhee, Black-headed Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler, Western Yellowthroat, Red- 

 start, Catbird, Long-tailed Chickadee and Willow Thrush. At higher elevations 



