20A Snodgrass, Land Birds of Central Washington. I Apr 



haunted by the distressing expectation of finding drinking water. 

 The wild and formidable nature of the country is sometimes tram- 

 pled on by bands of grazing cattle, but nowhere does it and never 

 will it submit to the hideous insult of being made to support a 

 wheat field or a farm-house. The Sage Sparrow, the Sage 

 Thrasher and the Horned Toad live in perfect tranquillity, for no 

 fear have they that their children's children or great-grandchildren 

 will here ever be subjected to the shame of living on else than 

 the sage-brush of their fathers. 



To the student of geographical distribution the Big Bend fauna 

 must be of special interest, since the country represents the north- 

 ern limit of the sage-brush region in the Northwest. Immediately 

 to the north of the Columbia River arise the low but pine clad 

 Okanogan Mountains. On the west the sage-brush is limited by 

 the Cascades. On the east it is bounded to the north by the 

 region of small pines occupying Spokane County, and to the south 

 by the (naturally) bunch-grass covered hills of the Palouse coun- 

 try. Collecting in the Grand Coulee possesses a great attractive- 

 ness due to the intrinsic interest of the region it represents, and, 

 furthermore, it is enhanced through the variety given to the fauna 

 by numerous small reedy marshes scattered through the caiion. 



Numerous water birds breed in the Coulee, but we did not have 

 time to devote much attention to them. We have specimens of 

 the following species : Arias boschas, Erismahira jamaicensis, 

 Fulica americana, Tringa maciilata, and ^gialitis vocifera. 



Specimens of most of the species recorded in the following list 

 were secured. Some were merely seen, but such are so described, 

 and in most cases the identification could not be mistaken. 

 Where doubtful, the doubt is indicated. The paper by W. L. 

 Dawson on the Birds of Okanogan County, referred to several 

 times in the list, is that published in 'The Auk' for April, 1897, 

 pages 168-182. 



1. Pedicecetes phasianellus columbianus. Columbian Sharp-tailed 

 Grouse (known here in the Northwest as ' Prairie Chicken ' ). — None of 

 these were met with in the Coulee region, but several individuals were 

 seen at Crab Creek and a whole family at Sprague in the southeast part of 

 Lincoln County. They are or have been plentiful throughout the whole 

 southeastern part of the State. 



2. Centrocercus urophasianus. Sage Hen. — These great birds are 



