28 Saunders, Birds of Gallatin Co., Mont. [$£?. 



Pine Siskin, Western Chipping Sparrow, Western Warbling 

 Vireo, Yellow Warbler and Western Robin. Most of these species 

 are abundant in the cottonwood shade trees in the streets of 

 Bozeman. In many places along the streams there are extensive 

 thickets of willow and alder, often swampy in character. These 

 thickets attract a larger number of species than any other type of 

 country. The commoner species are Wilson's Snipe, Mourning 

 Dove, Marsh Hawk, Western Crow, Magpie, Brewer's Blackbird, 

 Western Goldfinch, White-crowned Sparrow, Mountain Song 

 Sparrow, Slate-colored Fox Sparrow, Arctic Towhee, Black- 

 headed Grosbeak, Yellow Warbler, MacGillivray's Warbler, 

 Western Yellowthroat, Redstart, Catbird, Long-tailed Chickadee, 

 Willow Thrush and Western Robin. 



The Three Forks Valley lies at the head of the Missouri River and 

 along the lower Madison and Jefferson Rivers. It is much lower 

 than the Gallatin Valley, the average elevation being little over 

 4,000 feet. Only a small part of this valley is under cultivation. 

 The soil averages much coarser and less fertile than the Gallatin 

 Valley and there is a larger percentage of rolling grass land more 

 suitable for grazing than agriculture. For this reason and also 

 probably partially because of the elevation, there are several 

 species quite common here, which occur rarely, locally or not at 

 all in the Gallatin valley. Some of these are the Long-billed 

 Curlew, Mountain Plover, Desert Horned Lark, Yellow-headed 

 Blackbird, Western Grasshopper Sparrow and Lark Bunting. 

 Water and shore birds are more abundant here, particularly in 

 migrations, than in other parts of the county. I have had but 

 few opportunities to visit this valley and believe that many addi- 

 tional facts and species will be found here later. 



The East Flathead Valley is of higher elevation than either of 

 the others, averaging about 5,600 feet. A large part of this valley 

 consists of broad flat sagebrush land and because of this, it is the 

 only part of the county where such species as the Sage Grouse, 

 Sage and Brewer's Sparrows and Sage Thrasher are at all common. 



The mountainous portions of Gallatin County consist principally 

 of three main ranges. These are the Gallatin and Madison Moun- 

 tains on the east and west sides of the Gallatin River in the southern 

 part of the county, and the Bridger Mountains, west of the 



