THE PLAINS 339 



the greater abundance of certain species, which are near 

 their eastern limit in the first-named locality, (examples are, 

 Western Grebe, Franklin's Gull, California Gull, White Pel- 

 ican, Wilson's Phalarope, Long-billed Curlew); second, by 

 the presence of plains or alkaline lake species, not observed 

 about Shoal Lake, (examples are, Avocet, Western Willet, 

 Ferruginous Bough-leg, Chestnut-collared and McCown's 

 Longspurs, Lark Bunting, Sprague's Pipit); third, by the 

 absence of those arboreal species which inhabited the pop- 

 lars about Shoal Lake. Most of these, however, would doubt- 

 less have been found if we had searched the limited tree- 

 growth along Maple Creek, or in the sand-hills, which dune- 

 like occasionally arise in the Plains. Nor did we visit the tim- 

 ber of the ' ' Cypress Hills, ' ' some twenty miles south of the 

 town of Maple Creek, but examination of A. C. Bent's ex- 

 cellent list of the "Summer Birds of Southwestern Saskatch- 

 ewan," (The Auk, XXIV, 1907, pp. 407-435; XXV, 1908, 

 pp. 25-35), shows that most of the Manitoban birds are pres- 

 ent, while, with them, is an interesting infusion of such west- 

 ern forms as the Red-shafted Flicker, Arkansas Kingbird, 

 Say's Phoebe, Western Wood Pewee, Wright's Flycatcher, 

 Bullock's Oriole, Pink-sided Junco, Arctic Towhee, Audu- 

 bon's Warbler, Macgillivray's Warbler, Long-tailed Chick- 

 adee, Western Robin, and to this list may be added a Rock 

 Wren, observed near Big Stick Lake, June 9. 



The characteristic Plains birds in southern Saskatche- 

 wan are Chestnut-collared and McCown's Longspurs, 

 Lark Buntings, Horned Larks, (Otocoris alpestris leu- 

 colcema), Meadowlarks, (Sturnella neglecta], Bay- winged 

 Buntings, (Pocecetes gramineus confinis), and Rough-leg- 

 ged Hawks, (Archibuteo ferrugineus). All but the last- 

 named are abundant, while the first four are flight singers, 

 and there is virtually not a moment of the day when one or 

 more of them cannot be seen or heard. The Meadowlark's 

 flight song, though given as frequently as its perch song, 

 earlier in the season, is less often heard in June, when the 



