\ 



l;)21 BIRDS OF MONTANA 169 



times. Fledglings were found there June 25, 1904, and July 5, 1904. A nest 

 and three half -incubated eggs were found July 12, 1904 (Silloway, 1905a, p. 19). 

 At Swan Lake the species is said to winter and to nest very early (Silloway, 

 1903b, p. 303). Other records are: Lake Como, Ravalli County, one seen August 

 1, 1911, at 6,000 feet (Bailey, IMS). Seen several times at Belton in summer of 

 1915 (DuBois, MS). One seen at Coalbank, South Fork of FJathead River, in 

 the summer of 1915 (Betts, 1916, p. 163). I saw this species, and heard ore 

 bird in song, at Belton and at Lake MacDonald, Glacier National Park, August 

 12, 1914. Occurs on the Lolo, Kootenai and Blackfeet National Forests (Kit!- 

 redge, MS). 



328. Sialia sialis sialis (Linnaeus) 



Eastern Bluebird 

 Occurs rarely in eastern Montana in summer or migrations. -May breed. 

 There are but four records at present : Mouth of Pow^der River, August 1, 1856 

 (Baird, 1858, p. 222) ; mouth of Milk River (Cooper, 1869a, p. 32) ; Cinnabar 

 Basin, Park County, October 24, 1908, one seen (Saunders, 1910a, p. 80) ; Cor- 

 vallis, Bitterroot Valley, March 10, 1913, one seen (Bailey, 1913b, p. 184). [ 

 suspect that the Eastern Bluebird is a regular, though rare, summer resident in 

 extreme eastern Montana; the w^ritings of Cameron on Passerina aino< na (1908a, 

 p. 43) suggest that this may have been the bird observed. 



329. Sialia mexicana occidentalis J. K. Townsend 



Western Bluebird 

 A rare summer resident of western Montana, west of the continental divide, 

 occurring still more rarely in migrations, east of it. There appear to be no pre- 

 viously published records of this species in ^Montana, other than the reference, 

 "Breeds . . . east to . . . western Montana" (American Ornithologists' I'nion, 

 1910, p. 367). The late Prof. Cooke sent me the following data from the records 

 in the Biological Survey: Hell Gate, spring of 1860, specimen in United States 

 National Museum : Columbia Falls, June 28, 1895 ; Thompson Falls, July 29, 

 1895; Big Sandy. September 13, 1905; Corvallis, March 19, 1911. This species 

 has been seen at Missoula in April, 1917 (Kittredge, MS). 



^ 330. Sialia currucoides (Bechstein) 



]\IouNTAiN Bluebird 

 A common summer resident throughout the state. Breeds in the Transition 

 zone and less commonly in the Canadian. In the eastern part of the state breads 

 in the pine hills, farther west, in cottonwood groves, about ranch buildings, and 

 in the more open types of coniferous forests in the foothills of the mountains. 

 In the Canadian zone, it is sometimes found about the edges of mountain parks, 

 but it is never as common at such elevations in ^Montana as it is in the Transition. 

 \bout ranch buildings in the mountain valleys it is apparently increasing in 

 numbers. It is rare al)Out ranclu^s in the prairie regions, because most of the 



