lo XoRMAN A. Wood 



vegetation, the slopes being almost bare. The rainfall in the region is light, 

 but every shower is highly effective in washing away the clays and sands. 



The Missouri River flows in a valley froni one to several miles in width 

 and 200 to 400 feet in depth. It has a broad flood plain, above which lie 

 one or more terraces or flats, and back of these rise the bluffs. The Little 

 Missouri, Cannon Ball, Heart and Knife rivers, chief tributaries of the 

 Missouri, have all cut their valleys from 100 to 400 feet below the upland 

 plain and have more or less well-developed flood plains bordered by terraces. 

 There are frequent wooded areas along these streams. 



East of the Missouri River, in the north, the characteristic species are 

 the lark bunting. McCown's longspur, and Say's phoebe, while the southern 

 part is much like the Drift-Prairie, as many eastern species, such as the 

 bobolink and dickcissel, follow up the valley of the Missouri. In the Bad 

 Lands along the Little Missouri the many buttes and high, dry ])lateaus 

 furnish a barren habitat for desert horned larks, western lark sparrows, 

 magpies, and long-billed curlews. The groves of cottonwoods along the river 

 furnish suitable habitats for a few distinctly western species, such as I hil- 

 lock's oriole, black-headed grosbeak, lazuli bunting, long-tailed chat. Arctic 

 towhee, and the mountain bluebird. West of the Bad Lands are the high 

 sage brush plains with their characteristic bird, the sage grouse. This is 

 the only North Dakota breeding ground of the species. 



North Dakota is a state that has developed very rapidly, and in the last 

 twenty years there have been great changes in the character of the country, 

 which also affects its bird life, and direct changes in the bird life as well. 

 The breaking up of the prairies has greatly restricted the range of many 

 characteristic species (as the long-billed curlew, upland plover, and Baird's 

 sparrow). From various causes many lakes, ponds, and sloughs have dried 

 up, causing a great restriction of the habitats and nesting grounds of the 

 numerous waders and waterfowl that formerly occurred in immense num- 

 bers. Many of the most interesting species are now rare. The trumpeter 

 swan, the sandhill and whooping cranes are no longer common and. witli the 

 upland plover and long-billed curlew, are on the way to extinction in the 

 state. While man with his civilization drives away or destroys some species, 

 others, the prairie hen, bobolink, dickcissel, robin, bluebird, and martin, fol- 

 low and increase with the settling of the land. The cause of these , changes 

 in bird life is the rapid settlement of the country, which changes the prairies 

 into cultivated farms, the ponds and sloughs into hay meadows or grain 

 fields. Some waders, like the killdeer and spotted sandpiper can adapt them- 

 selves to these changed conditions and thrive and increase in the settled 

 country ; but others, like the upland plover and the long-billed curlew, can- 

 not seem to accustom themselves to the presence of man or to occupy his 

 fields of grain or hay. and thus are on the way to an early extinction in the 

 state. 



