^ 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



AND 



OOLOGIST. 



SUriii per 

 Annum. 



VOL. X. 



FRANK B. WEIiSTEK, Tublis 

 Established, March, 1ST5. 



PAWTUCKET, R. I., MARCH, 1885. 



Single Copy 

 15 Cents. 



No. 



Mississippi Valley Migration. 



HY rltDK. W. W. COOKK, MdOiillK M), MINN. 



Tlir iiiiirration season of ISS.") i-; clox' ;il liniicl in 

 lli<- iiiii-tlu-rn part of our district, while in iIh' 

 iiHirc sdutlicrn localitiesit liasalrcady foiiinii'iici'd. 

 Till' prospcfts for success in its study tire more 

 llalleriiiy Hum ever. The iiuiulicr of oliscrvcrs at 

 present is much greater than at tliis time last yi'ar, 

 and their average ability ranks nuuli liiglier. 

 iiut while ahnost ever)' mail I)rings the names of 

 new observers, there are only a few of these from 

 I lie localities mentioned in the January "O. and O." 

 Hence we would like to n'peat both our request 

 and also that of the editor, lliat mty one in or unt 

 iif iiiir dhtrii-t . trho knows tlie name of iinji orfii- 

 lluihigiat — mill ill thix cnsi', wa iiumnby ornil/iolof/i.'<l, 

 iniji our who /.o'ocs th, roiii 1110,1, «t h!nh hij sii/hl mil! 

 hi/ iimiic—iii till phir,^ ii.niml in llir ./mm, in/ ■<>. 

 mill or icill iilinac xiiiil lliiir nmoi.i to //»■. 



Before migration is fully started this S])riiig, it 

 may be well to record some of the fads brought 

 to light lasl year, though Ihey are eoiieenied with 

 dislribiiliiiu ratlier than the migialinn. We will 

 begin with Ihe, 



PkAIHIE HkN — PlNNATHI) C ItlUSK, (Cll/lill- 



01, ill rojiifli). The distribuli(]|i of this siieeies is 

 interesting. Formerly coiumon in mueh ot Ihe 

 eastern Iniled Stales, it has imw lieeii exlia- 

 minuted fniin alinut eastern Illinois eiist ward. Its 

 northern limit has always fallen sliml of our 

 northern boundary until last Summer, when they 

 invaded I\Ianitoba. Jlr. C. W. Na.sh of Porlage 

 La Prairie, .says ; "Tliis last Autumn we had a 

 ( urious influx of the Pinnated Grouse. I imaiiine 

 that they, like some otljer birds, arc following up 

 civilization, for unlil Last year (1884) none were 

 seen by the Indians and lialf-breed hunters." It 

 has also been gradually spreading westward, and 

 during the years l>efore the great extension of the 

 railroads, kept just about abreast of the settle- 

 ments. Dr. Coues, writing hi 1874, says that it 

 tliiai inhabited the eastern half of Miimesota, but 



Ihal he had •■ no reason to believe that it occail'- 

 at all in norlhwesleni Minni^s.ii.a or northern Da 

 kola." Si.\ years laler 1 found it almndanl up to 

 IT . and only forty miles from Ihe Dakota line. 

 1 ;dso !ie;u(l of its having appeared across the Red 

 River at (irand Forks, Dak. Last Fall I ,pies- 

 tioiicd several hunters in the \ieinily of Faryu, 

 Dak., and they all agreed that Ihe Piiuialeil 

 Grouse was about as common as the Sharp-tailed. 

 It has worked its way about si.\ty miles west of 

 the Ued River, along th<' line of the Xorlhern 

 Pacific l{ailroa(L 



At the same time it has spread from midiUe to 

 western K.ansas, and from eastern Texas to Cole 

 mjui County, .a liltle west of Ihe middle of llii' 

 State. Il is found abuiiilaiilly in either the l,\ [li- 

 eal or •■less(a-" form, to the iniildle .11 le.isi ,,j In 

 dian Territory. 



The Prairie Chicken is commonly counled a 

 resident bird, and so il is through a, large part of 

 its range, but in the northern portions of our dis- 

 trict, especially in Iowa, a regidtir though loetil 

 ini,griUion lakes place. Tliis has been mentioned 

 by former writers, and last year a sjiceial study 

 was niiidc of the niatler. ]\Ian,v ob.servers unite 

 in Icslifying t<i tin' facts In ihe e:ise, and wli:il is 

 more important, lln-re is no dissenting voici'. One 

 of them hardly exaggerates when he says that 

 they iiii;;rale as regnlarl,x as Ihe Cantida Goose. 

 Sumining up all the information received we gel 

 the following results: In iS'ovember and De- 

 cember, large tiocks of Prairie t'liickiais come 

 from noi'lhern Iowa and southern Minnesota lo 

 sellle for the Winli'r in northern Mis.souri and 

 .southern Iowa. This migration varies in hulk 

 with the severity of the Winter. Duringan early 

 cold sna]). immense lloeks come from Ihe norlli- 

 ern jirairies lo soulhern low.-i ; in mild opiai Win 

 tcrs tlie niigrati(m is niiicli less pronoiinciil. Dur 

 ing a e(ild, wel Spring Ihe norllnvard movement 

 in March and April is lar,^'ely arrested on the ar- 

 rival of the flocks in the northern Iowa ; but an 

 early Spring with fair weather will find them 

 abundant in the .southern tier of counties in 



Copyright, 1S83, by Frank B. Webster and Eaton Cliff. 



