1921 BIRDS OF MONTANA 171 



This species is so early in its arrival in spring, that it seems as if it would 

 some day be found to winter in the state, at least on the west side of the conti- 

 nental divide. There are no winter records, however, at present. I was told of 

 a bluebird wintering near Choteau in the winter of 1911-12, but the information 

 reached me second-hand, and I was unable to find out from whom it came or to 

 verify it. 



The following two species have been added to the state list since the pre- 

 ceding matter was put in type. 



831. Tringa canutus Linnaeus 



Knot 

 The nuunmified body of a bird of this species was found on Woody Island 

 in Lake Bowdoiu, October 4, 1915 (Wetmore, 1920, p. 451). 



332. Falco islandus Brlinnich 



White Gyrfalcon 

 A bird of this species was taken on Shonkin Creek, near Shonkin, Novem- 

 ber 18, 1917, by G. B. Daniels. It is now mounted and in the collection of Mr. 

 J. H. Bowles (Rathbun, 1920, p. 132). 



RECENTLY EXTINCT SPECIES 



Ectopistes migratorius (Linnaeus) 

 Passenger Pigeon 



Formerly an abundant migrant, evidently throughout the state, and prob- 

 ably breeding in the northern mountains. Records of this species are as follows : 

 Above the mouth of the Yellowstone, August 8, 1856 (Baird, 1858, p. 600). Seen 

 almost every day along the Upper Missouri, and across the divide, westward as 

 far as Spokane Falls. Fed on service berries in Hell-Gate Canyon (Cooper, 

 1869a, p. 80). Small flocks seen high up the Yellowstone (Uayden, 1862, p. 

 172). A young bird secured at Chief ]\Iountain Lake, August 23, 1874 (Cones, 

 lS74b, p. 628). Seen on the Missouri in July (Grinnell, 1876, p. 650). These 

 last records in 1873-74 are the latest from the state. 



The fact that this species was once abundant in Montana, and is now un- 

 known there, as elsewhere, seems to me strong evidence that its extinction was 

 not due to man's unaided agency. At the time it disappeared in Montana the 

 state was very thinly settled, and the human population there could not have 

 been the cause of any appreciable lessening of its numbers. The Trumpeter 

 Swan, the Sandhill Crane, and the Long-billed Curlew, while exterminated in 

 many parts of their former range, still occur in IMontana. Their extinction in 

 many places is obviously due to man, and for the same reasons, the extinction 

 of this species is not. 



