6 Norman A. Wood 



In 191 7 Mrs. Bailey returned to Dakota and visited all of the larger 

 lakes and many of the ponds and sloughs. The results of this trip are like- 

 wise published in Condor. 



In April, 191 9, Professor Daniel Freeman published "A Bird Calendar 

 of the Fargo Region." This list of 180 species is the result of several years' 

 observation by Professor Freeman and his students. Some of the species 

 have a little data and some annotations, but the list contains few actual 

 records. 



Professor C. C. Schmidt of the University of North Dakota published 

 in 192 1 a list of the birds of North Dakota in a book entitled "Nature Study 

 and Agriculture." This is a popular list without records or dates of occur- 

 rence for the species. 



Although the task of compiling a list |like the present is often tedious, 

 it has not been an irksome one to me, as the field work on which it is based 

 has carried me thousands of miles across the level valleys, the "Prairie 

 Plains" and the "Great Plains" of the state. I recall the wonderful "Buttes" 

 of the Bad Lands along the Little Missouri in "Roosevelt Land," and the 

 big, muddy Missouri that carried the pioneer ornithologists through the state. 

 While I have been compiling the records and notes 'I have been constantly 

 reminded of the many days spent by the lakes and ponds or wandering over 

 the big, dry prairies. 



However dry the text of this list may seem, back of it is a living Dakota 

 with its wonderful and interesting bird life, worthy of much future study 

 by bird lovers. To these I hope this list will be a help and an inspiration. 



General Physiographic Features and Distributional Areas of 



North Dakota 



While I have visited many parts of the state, my time in each one was 

 too limited to permit me to obtain complete data on many of the species, 

 and little has been published on this subject in the state lists. The problem 

 of distribution is the hardest one given to the bird student, since species are 

 not strictly confined to any one area, but are continually extending their 

 range and passing from,, one area to another, as the character of the country 

 changes. The state is divided geographically into three main areas, and the 

 character of these areas in a great measure 'determines the characteristic 

 bird life of each. 



The discussion of the physiography of the state has been taken largely 

 from "Topographic Features and Geological Formations of North Dakota," 

 by A. G. Leonard,- and "Physiography of the Devils-Stump Lake Region, 

 North Dakota," by Howard E. Simpson.^ 



The land surface included within the state may be regarded as formed 

 of three plains rising one above the other. The lowest of these is the broad 



^Third Biennial Report of ^State GeoIop:ical Survcv of North Dakota. Bisirarck, 

 1904. 



^ Sixth Biennial Report of the State Geological Survey of North Dakota. Bis- 

 marck, 1912. 



