Bird Life of North Dakota 77 



dedicated to Mr. Sprague: p. ^<^\ on June 24 Audubon records sbootin"- four larks, 

 and he describes at length their flight and beautiful song: p. 88; July 14, he shot 

 seven more near Fort Union, Williams County. Ridgway, 1904, p. 21 ; breeding in 

 the Red River Valley, North Dakota. Judd. 1017, p. 27; fairly common summer 

 resident. 



The only ones noted by the writer were heard singing high in the air 

 above low alkali flats or pastures near the edge of West Bay, Stump Lake, 

 July 25, 1920. In July last, Mr. Elmer T. Judd, of Cando, Towner County^ 

 wrote me tliat the air was full of their beautiful song. Senator Crawford, 

 of Sentinel Butte, has written me that Sprague's pipit is one of the rare 

 prairie birds and that he has never been able to find a nest of this bird, 

 although he has found the young. 



294. Oreoscoptes montantis (J. K. Townsend). Sage Thrasher. 

 RiDGW^AY, 1907, p. 260; from western North Dakota. 



I find no other record. 



295. M'wms polyglottos polyglottos (Linnaeus). Mockingbird. 



The only record known to me for the state is of a bird taken on the 

 campus of the University of North Dakota, November 23, 1916, by Pro- 

 fessor C. C. Schmidt. This bird was noted in the vicinity for several days 

 after all other migrants had gone south. It was no doubt an accidental 

 straggler. 



296. Dumetella carolinensis (Linnaeus). Catbird. 



CouES, 1878, p. 551 ; one of the common breeding species of the Red River region 

 and -west to the Turtle Mountains. Specimens were taken at Pembina, June 13 to 30, 

 and Turtle M'ountaiiis, July 23, 1873. Judd, 1917, p. 27; tolerably common summer 

 resident of this territory, seen third week in May. 



I saw it at Devils Lake in May, 1921, and found it one of the most com- 

 mon land birds of that region as well as over the rest of the state in suitable 

 habitats. 



297. Toxostoma rufum (Linnaeus). Brown Thrasher. 



CouES, 1878, p. 551 ; observed at Pembina. One was taken at Pembina, June 21, 

 1873, and one at Fort Buford, Williams County, in July, 1874. Schmidt, 1904; all 

 parts of the state. Judd, 1917, p. 27; rather rare, probably nests in the Turtle Moun- 

 tains. Freeman, 1919, p. 16; very common summer resident, May 10. 



I saw this species at Devils Lake after May 10, 192 1. At Medora I 

 also found a few in June, and it was quite common at Bottineau in July. 

 The food habits are mostly beneficial. 



298. SaJpincfes ohsolehis obsnJetus (Say). Rock Wren. 



Baird. i8k8, p. 358 ; a male taken at Fort Union. July 8. 1843. by J. J. Audubon. 

 AiLEN, 1875, p. 50; first met with about some rocky buttes near the Big Muddy, 

 Morton County; common in the Little Missouri Bad Lands in the summer of 1873.. 

 CouES, 1897, p. 97; July 18, Audubon shot five rock wrens near Fort Union: p. 122; 

 July 29, Harris and Bell shot two rock wrens; August 8, saw a family of rock wrens 

 and shot four near the same place. Schmidt, 1904; migrant, central North Dakota. 

 Judd. 1917,, p. 27; but one known record; took a specimen in spring of 1896, in a 

 woodpile at Cando, Towner County. 



