1921 BIRDS OP MONTANA l^j 



the breast of the bird was blackened by living in hurned tiiiilicr. Tliere are no 

 Inirned timber areas near Bozeman at low enough elevations to l>c in the breediuo- 

 area of scptcntrioiialis, and so far as my experience goes, this hitter foi-iii bi'eeds 

 only in cottonwoods and willows that are not subject to forest lire, while the 

 bird of northwestern Montana ire>|uently breeds in evergreen limlier, where 

 burned areas are common. 



■iU. Penthestes atricapillus septentrionalis Harris 



Long-tailed Chickadee 



An abundant permanent resident through all of the state excejit the north- 

 >vestern portion, where birds referable to typical atricapillus bi'eed. Breeds in 

 Transition and probably in the l^pper Sonoran zone, in cotton wood groves, wil- 

 low thickets, and, where such areas exist, in yellow pines of the mountain foot- 

 hills and of the eastern pine hills. Found mainly in the prairie region and 

 mountain valleys, hut also in mountain canyons, where the proper habitat exists, 

 lip to tlie limit of tlie Transition xone. All observers r'eport this species as com 

 iiion. 



There is but one record of the taking of the eggs, ten fresh eggs having been 

 .secured Jnlj^ 28, 1918, near Billings (Thomas, MS). Birds were seen nest-lniilding 

 in the Bitterroot Valley, Ma.y 12, 1911 (Bailey, MS). 1 have seen young out of 

 the nest in Jefferson County, June 29, 1910. The western limits of the range of 

 tills suljspecies in the state are formed b.y the footliills .just east of the continental 

 divide in Teton County. It ranges south to the Northern Pacific Railroad, then 

 West across the divide, roughl.y, by foUovv-ing the line of the railroad; tlien, eitiier 

 westward to the western border of the state through iMissoula, or else south to 

 e.xchidc the Bitterroot Valley, and then west to the western l)order. 



315. Penthestes gambeli gambeli ( Ridgway i 



.MtlUNTAI.X ( 'llICKADEE 



A common permanent resident of the mountains in tlie western half of tlie 

 state. Breeds in the Canadian and Hudsonian zones in fir or pine timlur. 

 All oiiservers in mountainous regions report this species. The eastern limits o'i 

 '.U range are found in the mountains of Teton County (Saunders. ll)14a, p. 14:>i 

 and of Fergus County (Silloway, 190;ia, p. ti8). and in the Big Horn .Mountains 

 (MeChesney, 1879, p. 2385). West of the continental divide, in the northwest- 

 ern part of the state, records of occurrence are comiiaratively few, nol, I bi-- 

 lieve, because the species is rare, but mainly because most observations in the 

 mountains of that region are confined to the Transition zone, and observations 

 in the Canadian and Hudsonian zones are comparatively few. 



In spring and fall this species is sometimes found in the mountain valle.ys 

 in company with the Long-tailed Chickadee. This is a common occurrence in rhe 

 Gallatin Valley. Dates of observation in the Gallatin Valley are as follows. 

 Bozeman, October 2, 1908, October 16. 1910, and March 18, 1911; Spring Hill, 

 October 8, 1908. This movement down to the valleys constitutes the only indi- 

 cation of a migration on the [lart of this species. 



