8 PACIFIC COAST AVIFAUNA No. 14 



made lliis clianii'c bflicvinu' that it iiiiprovi's ami lifttrrs tlic list, and with the 

 hope that a similar ehange will he adopted by the makevs of the Check- Lisl them- 

 selves wlien the next edition is published. 



While the work of compiling a list such as the present one is often tedious 

 ami ii-ksoine, yet the original field woi-k ou which it is based has given me some 

 oT the -reatist pleasures that I have had, pleasures that only the field oi-nitholo- 

 gist, boi'n with the love of wild birds, can appreciate. Thus, as I have gone over 

 these pages, reeording references anil migration dates, or workin,'^ out ranges, I 

 have relieved the tedium by living over in retrospect many happy hours in the 

 field, in what is ornithologically one of the most interesting and wonderful of 

 our states. I have seen again the rolling prairies on a bright June morning, with 

 countless McCown Longspurs, rising into the air, and parachuting down into the 

 grass, or a male Curlew, charging with loud ])rotest toward the man who has 

 ventured near his nest. 1 have seen the prairie ponds, dotted with ducks of many 

 species, with pink and white Avocets wading about the muddy shores, and Coots 

 and Grebes swimming among the tules that border the farther side. On the same 

 prairies, bleak with the winter snow and cold, I remember the whirling flocks 

 of Snow Buntings, Horned Larks, or Rosy Finches, or a single Snowy Owl, sit- 

 ting on a rise of ground, and flying silently away at my approach. The ever 

 clianging mountains have been pictured in my memory; the wonderful little 

 Dipper, diving under a waterfall and emerging to sit on a wet stone and sing, 

 tlie friendly Rocky Mountain Jays, who came at the noon hour to share my lunch 

 in the pine forest ; the cock Franklin Grouse, sitting in a dark green spriice top, 

 opening and closing the red "comb" over his eye; the Solitaire rising in flight- 

 song above the moiuitain peaks, his voice ringing loudly and melodiousl.y through 

 the clear air; and the sweet evening chant of the White-crowned Spai-row in the 

 willows near our camp by the lake shore. However scientifierilly "cut and 

 dried" the text of this list may seem, back of it is a living Montana, teeming with 

 interesting and wonderful bird life, worthy of greater attention from the future 

 ornithologist. To those who find pleasure in the birds of Montana in the fu- 

 ture, I hope that this list will be a help, and an inspiration to publish whatever 

 of their oliservations will make knowledge of our birds more perfect. 



Aretas a. Saunders. 



Noriirilk, Conncdicut, DcC( iiihrr 2, 11)1!). 



