Auk 



2o8 RICHMOND \n t i> KNOWLTON on Mont ma Birds. " t 



possibly because he had seen me the first time. I had only 

 one good view of him on the ground. 



Mr. Faxon devoted his entire attention this evening to 

 studying the aerial flight. His conclusions are that during the 

 production of each set of musical (water-whistle) notes, the 

 bird holds his wings extended and set, whether he be sailing or 

 pitching down sharply at the time; and further that the wings 

 invariably move rapidly and continuously in a whirring manner 

 during the intermittent periods of twittering. 



This morning Mr. Faxon found the bird already peeping at 

 4.15. He watched him through one peeping spell at a distance 

 of fifteen feet (measured) from behind a small leafless bush. 



BIRDS OF SOUTH-CENTRAL MONTANA. 



BY CHAS. W. RICHMOND AND F. H. KNOWLTON. 



The observations recorded in this paper were confined almost 

 entirely to Gallatin County, with short visits into the western 

 part of Park County north of the Yellowstone National Park, 

 and into the eastern portions of Madison and Jefferson Counties. 

 The area embraced is about 75 miles in north and south direc- 

 tion, and 30 miles in east and west, or approximately 2500 

 square miles. It lies along the eastern flank of the Rocky 

 Mountains, in the south-central portion of this great State. It 

 is very much diversified, including the broad, fertile Gallatin 

 Valley on the north with an altitude of only 4600 feet, the long, 

 narrow Madison Valley on the west, the elevation of which is 

 about 5000 feet, and the Gallatin and Madison ranges of 

 mountains in the southern portion, with a general elevation of 

 from 6000 to 9000 feet, with many peaks rising above 10,000 

 feet, and a few to over 1 1 ,000 feet. In the extreme northern 

 portion of the area under discussion the three rivers — Gallatin, 

 Madison and Jefferson — unite to form the headwaters of the 

 Missouri. These streams ali rise in the mountains far to the 

 south and southwest, and hence flow approximately north. In 

 their courses through the mountains they have in many places 



