202 



Saunders, An Ecological Bird Study. 



r Auk 

 lAprll 



found stragglers and visitors on the area which were not nesting 

 there, but my repeated visits served to show which birds belonged 

 there regularly. 



I found five separate ecological associations on the area. These 

 representing most of the commoner ones of the prairie region of this 

 part of Montana. Associations of this region not represented here 

 are the prairie bench, the willow thicket, the rush slough, and the 

 alkaline ponds and lakes. At the time of the study I used a rough 

 sketch map to indicate the location of the various associations, 

 not taking time to measure out and map each one accurately. The 

 following fall I did this work, using a hand compass and pacing the 

 distances, in the same manner in which forest type mapping is 

 done, and divided the area among the different associations as 

 follows. 



The grass meadows, as can be seen from the above figures, 

 formed much the largest portion of the area. This association 

 consists of flat stretches along stream valleys, having a rich, moist 

 soil, and covered with a growth of tall, wild grasses and weeds. 

 These are commonly cut over in this region for hay late in August, 

 but never while birds are nesting, because growth is not fast enough 

 to make a heavy crop so early in the year. In spite of the fact 

 that this association covers the largest proportion of all in the area 

 studied, the number of both species and individuals found in it was 

 comparatively small. They are as follows. 



Total 



23 



7.5 



