1921 IXTRODUCTIOX 7 



at the Uuiversity Biological Station at Flathead Lake, and for the pi-ivilegc of 

 examiuing the collection of birds at the University. 



Montana is a state that is now bein;:- developed very rapidly. In the 

 last ten years many changes have taken place, changes that have had a great 

 effect on its bird life. Many of the most interesting s[)ecies are beecnning 

 rare. The Trumpeter Swan, the Sandhill and Whooping cranes and otlier pic- 

 tures(]ue species are no longer common. The day is fast approaching when 

 the Long-billed Curlew and the Sage Hen will be ver.y rare, even in the more 

 remote localities. The cause of these changes in bird life is the rapid settle- 

 ment of the country, involving the building of railroads, and the clearing. 

 plowing and irrigating of the lands. Even though these threatened species are 

 protected by law, they mvist go sooner or later,' for the cause of their scarcity is 

 not so much the shooting or other persecution on the part of man, ;is his mere 

 presence, his occupation of the ground where tliey had been accustomed t<i breed. 

 Species like the Killdeer can adapt them.selves to the new conditions, and can 

 become even more abundant in the presence of man than before. Rut such birds 

 as the Curlew cannot accustom tliemselves to the change, and there seems to be 

 no way that man can help them. They are doomed to become rare. |)eiii:i|is total- 

 ly extinct. The study of thi^se changing conditions and their effects on l)ird life 

 is an important one for the future ornithologist in Montana. 



Another sort of change that is taking place, that causes man\' puzzles to the 

 student of distribution, is that which concerns geographical names. The map 

 accompanying this list is taken from the most recent one I could olitain. one 

 dated 1917. But no map can keep up with the rapid changes in names that an' 

 taking place. New towns appear, and often older towns, remote from newly built 

 railroads, become deserted and remain as memories only. It is already diffi- 

 cult to find the location on accessilile maps of many of the older records. Coun- 

 ties have been created in considerable number in the past few years. The area 

 covered by Mr. E. S. Cameron's work, including Custer and Dawson <-ountii's, 

 now covers seven counties, Richland, Dawson, Wibaux. Prairie, Custer, Fallon. 

 and Carter. In the text I have referred to this area still as "Custer and Dawson 

 counties" because it was not possible in such cases to locate the Cameron i-ccoimIs 

 more closely. However, a large ma/jority of these records, those located at Tcri-y 

 and Fallon, are in what is now Prairie County. T have shown on the mn|). wbi'r- 

 '■ver it was po.s,sible to do so. all the important localities mentioned, in the text. 



Tn the writing of this list I have followed the Ameiican Ornithobcnsts ' 

 Cnion CIk r]:-List. 1910, and its supjilement, in nearly all particulars. In the 

 use of certain English names I have departed somewhat from the anllmrity of 

 this list. I have added to names of eastern subspecies and si)ecics, tlie adiective 

 "eastern" when the Check-List does not do so. Thus, Asfragalinii.t iri^tis frisHs 

 is the Eastern Goldfinch and A. t. palliclus the Western Goldfinch. To call the 

 eastern form simply Goldfinch is unsatisfactory to any ornithologist whose field 

 experience is wider than the range of the eastern subspecies. In the same man- 

 ner this principle may apply to species in some cases. S!iah'a s>:ilis should not 

 be fl>r Bluebird, liut tln^ Eastern Bluebird. At least this is so from the stand- 

 ]ioint of a resident of ^lontana. where S. r/n-rinoiV/rs is tJif Bbicbiril. I liave 



