34 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 3 



Minnesota, and many flnoks will pass still farther 

 north. 



The most curious part is the se.v of the migrants. 

 It is the females that migrate, leaving the males 

 to brave the Winter's cold. Mr. Thos. Miller of 

 Heron Lake, Minn., fairly states the case when 

 lie says, " The females (of Cwyw/w) in this latitude, 

 migrate south in the Fall and come back in the 

 Spring, about one or two days after the finst 

 Ducks, and they keep coming in flocks of ten 

 to thirty for about three days, all flying north. 

 The Grouse that stay here all Winter are males. " 

 By this, of course, it is not meant that no female 

 ever stays in Minnesota during the Winter, but 

 that their numbers are very few compared with 

 the males. At Iowa City, la., the first of the 

 flocks passed over March 10th, and the liulk on 

 the 33d; at Newton, la , the bulk is mentioned 

 on March 33d. The "booming" of this species 

 is marked from March 7th. at Caddo, Indian Ter- 

 ritory, to March 34th, at Barton, Dak. 



As supplemental to the Pinnated Grouse, we 

 may mention that of the Sh.\kp-taii.ed Grouse, 

 (Pedio'C^teK phdxinneUiis columbianiu). Dr. Coues 

 in his "New Key," gives the range of this species 

 as follows: "The Pintail Chicken inhabits the 

 western portions of Minnesota, a small part of 

 Iowa, all of Dakota; thence diagonally across 

 Nebraska and Kan.sas to Colorado in the Laramie 

 and upper Platte regions, thence westward in 

 suitable country to the Sierra Nevada and C'as- 

 cade Ranges." To this range several places can 

 be added extending its range eastward. In 

 Minnesota it is found in the northern and north- 

 eastern portions, while in the middle of the State 

 it ranges as far east as Elk River, and probably 

 acro.ss the State, as they are found in adjoining 

 portions of Wisconsin. I am indebted to Mr. 

 C. F. Carr of Waupaca, Wis., for the boundaries 

 of their range in that State. He writes : "They 

 are quite abundant on Sisson's Prairie, Portage 

 County, in the Fall of the year, but as soon as 

 cold weather .sets in, they keep in the edge of the 

 woods. They are associated witli C. Ciipido. 

 Thej' range in the northwestern portion of the 

 Slate from about the center of Waushara County, 

 but are most abundant in Waushara, Waupaca, 

 Portage, Shaweeno, and Marathon Counties, but 

 not many in the latter. " 



They also extend northward into Manitoba, be- 

 ing resident and common at Portage La Prairie, 

 latitude 50°; though the form foiuid in British 

 America is con.sidered to be the typical form, P. 

 plumanelluH. 



Col. Goss says thej' are still resident in middle 

 western Kansas, but becoming rare, while Dr. 



Watson says that in the vicinity of Ellis, Kans., 

 they disappeared in 1875 and since then Cnpido 

 has taken their place. Even in Illinois, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Ridgway, a very few are still found 

 on the ])rairies in the northern part of the State. 

 It will thus be seen that the range of the Sharji- 

 tailed Grouse forms a half circle to the north of 

 the range of the Pinnated, and following this 

 bow that the two ranges overlap in Illinois, Wis- 

 consin, Minnesota, Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. 



Bl.ACK-HE.\DKD SNOWBIRD, (JuilCO hl/e7nuUx). 



Mr. .1. A. Balmer, sends the following notes from 

 Danville, 111., 40'«: "Many large flocks win- 

 tered here, but the bulk left by the tir.st of May. 

 On .June 1st, a male bird noticed; .luiie 7th, male 

 and female; and again on June 31st, I saw a 

 male bird, always near the same spot. This led 

 me to think the pair might be nesting here. I 

 have searched pretty thoroughly for their nest, 

 but without succes.s." 



Intei{.mt:i)i.vte White-crowned Sp.^rrow, 

 (Zonotrich itt gambcli intermedUi). In the ' 'Auk" for 

 January, 1884, p. 100, Col. Goss gives a short 

 note of the addition of th's species to the liirds of 

 Kansas, it having been taken by Prof. Lantz at 

 Manhattan, Oct, 9th, 1883, and by the Colonel a 

 few days later at Fort Wallace. During migra- 

 tion the following Spring, Prof. Lantz took it 

 again at Manhattan, on May 7th, which was 

 eleven days later than the migration of the com- 

 mon White-crown, which probably accounts for 

 its being formerly overlooked. Nor is this the 

 most eastern record, since a single specimen was 

 reported from Iowa years ago, and in 1871 Dr. 

 Hoj- took one near Racine, Wis. 



During the Fall migration of 1884, Prof. Lantz 

 was again on the watch for tliis species and found 

 so many that he writes under date of December 

 36th: "It is now fully established that this form 

 is coTOWon here, being even more nuinerous than 

 the eastern form." All observers in Texas, Kan- 

 sas, Nebraska and Dakota, sliould be on the look- 

 out for this form during migration, and it might 

 be well for tho.se in western Iowa and Minnesota 

 to pay some attention to the .subject. The dis- 

 tinguishing mark of this form as given in Cones' 

 new Key is, exactly like the White-crown, but 

 "lores gray or ashy, continuous with the white 

 .stripe over the eye, i. e., the black of the fore- 

 head does not descend to the eye." 



Townsend's W.\rbler, (Dendmrn tmriiin mHj. 

 Tills western "Warbler has been added to the birds 

 of the Mis.sissippi Valle_y district by Mr. Wni. 

 Lloyd, who found it at San Angelo as an abund- 

 ant migrant and also as a Summer resident, 

 "though rarely .secured, as its habitat is th<' 



