THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA.* 



BY 



Ernest E. Thompson, of Toronto, Canada, 



Associate Member American Orniihologists' Union, etc. 



(With plate xxxviii.) 



INTRODUCTION. 



BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA. 



In treating of the birds of this region it seemed most convenient to 

 make the political boundaries of the province, those also of the district 

 included, though this is scarcely defensible from the scientific standpoint. 

 According to the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1886, chapter 47, the boun- 

 daries of the province of Manitoba were fixed briefly as follows : On the 

 south, at the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, which is the interna- 

 tional boundary line ; on the west by a line along the middle of the 

 road allowance between the twenty-ninth and thirtieth ranges of town- 

 ships west of the first principal meridian, which line falls between lOlc" 

 and 102° longitude west of Greenwich ; on the north by the middle of 

 the road allowance of the twelfth base line, which is north latitude 

 52° 50'; on the east by the meridian of the northwest angle of the Lake 

 of the Woods which, according to Professor Hind is 95° 50' longitude 

 west of Greenwich. 



In preparing my own map full use has been made of the maps pub- 



*Iu offering the followingobservations in their present shape, i. e., as they were made 

 on the spot, -without material condensation or generalization, I believe that I have 

 taken not merely the best but the only right course under the circumstances. My 

 original plan, as may be seen by the "notes" throughout, was to prepare something 

 after a very old-fashioned model, but widening experience caused a considerable 

 change of view. No one regrets more than myself their imperfectuess, and, in some 

 cases which I have pointed out, their unreliability. If I could see my way clear to 

 revisit Manitoba in the near future I would gladly defer publication in the hope that 

 I might first remove numerous doubts and till many unfortunate blanks, but under 

 existing circumstances there seems to be no course but to carefully revise my old 

 journal and let it go forth for judgment. 



My own observations are supplemented by those of numerous observers in various 

 parts of the province, and I have also endeavored to include all available records relat- 

 ing to distribution and all valuable published matter relating to the ornithology of 

 Manitoba that has not appeared in a special work on birds. This excludes only Dr. 

 Coues's field notes » * • forty-ninth parallel, which, however, is constantly cited. 



In all the records I have given the exact words of the writer are quoted. 



Altogether I spent about 3 years in the province, my first visit extending from 

 March 28, 1882, to November 16, 138:5 ; my second from April 25, 1884, to January 27, 

 1885; my third from October 25, 1886, to January 12, 1887, broken only by occasional 

 Proceedings National Museum, Vol. XIII. — Ko. 841. 



