56 



PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA 



No. 14 



In most niouiitains of the .state tliis species is still abundant, but in the vicin- 

 ity of some of the larger to\vns, such as Butte, it is becoming very rare. While the 

 birds are permanent residents, they have a slight migratory movement up and 

 down the mountain slopes with the season, ])ut, curiously, in just the reverse 

 direction from that of most mountain birds, coming tlown to lower elevations in 

 Ihc spring, and going up to the higher ridges in fall. The downward movement 

 in spi-ing takes ])lace in Ajiril or iMay, according to how fast the snow leaves the 

 lower mountain slopes. Then the courtship and mating of the birds takes place, 

 and nesting begins by the middle of May. There are no definite dates for actual 

 nesting given in any publications, and I know of but one definite date, that of 

 a nest and eleven eggs fonnd by a U. S. Forest Service officer in German Gulch, 

 Silver Bow County, May 81, 1910. Young only a few days out of the egg are 

 first seen about the middle of June. These young may l)e found with the female 

 parent in the lower mountain meadows till August and early September, when 

 they are nearly full grown. The food late in the season is largely grasshoppers, 

 and the time when the first snows of the fall kill the grasshoppei-s in the latter 

 half of September, marks the time when the birds move up the mountain slopes 

 to their winter quarters. On the high ridges the snow is usually blown away l>y 

 the wind, and berries, which form the principal winter food, may be found in 

 (luantity. When the berries are covered, the birds feed on fir and pine needles 

 and appear to thrive on such a diet in spite of the intense cold at these altitudes. 



Fig. 14. Fk.mai.i: Fkanki.in Gkousk. Flathead National Forest, near 

 Rki/ion. Piioro liY A. D. DuB' IS. 



