AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 209 



A CHECK LIST AND HABITAT MAP. 



We have received for publication, many local bird lists from 

 different sections of the country and also requests for lists from other 

 sections. As a rule we have avoided publishing such lists because of 

 their localness and their lack of interest to our readers in all other 

 parts of the country. 



We have complied the following list and map to cover the whole of 

 the territory included in the North American bird lists. 



It is in a condensed form, but we think that it will be found very 

 practical and that it will prove nearly, if not quite, as satisfactory as 

 the usual check list of several hundred pages. 



The country is divided horizontally by the 20th, 30th, 40th etc. 

 parallels into six sections, the United States, with the exception of 

 southern Lower California, Texas and Florida, being contained in 

 sections 2 and 3. It is divided vertically into three sections, the 

 western one including the Pacific coast, the Rocky Mountains and 

 Alaska; the middle section comprises the Mississippi Valley, the Great 

 Plains, and the interior of Canada; the eastern section is Greenland, 

 Labrador and the Atlantic States. These boundaries divide North 

 America into 18 parts which can very readily be designated to show 

 the range of any particular bird. As a further convenience, the ranges 

 are given in three columns, the first being the western division, the 

 middle one the central division and the last the eastern division. 

 This tabulation shows at a glance just what birds are found in each of 

 the three vertical divisions and the number found in these columns will 

 serve to determine a bird's range with accuracy and dispatch. Heavy 

 face figures denote the bird's breeding ranges while light face figures 

 indicate that they are migratory in those sections. As an example 

 take the first bird on the list, the Western Grebe. In the first or 

 western column we find the figures 1-3-4 with the 3 and 4 in heavy face 

 type. This indicates that this bird breeds in northwestern United 

 States and British Columbia and in winter migrates southwards 

 through southwestern United States to Lower California and Mexico. 

 It is also found in the second column as w3-4. This shows that its 

 breeding range also extends eastward to Montana, the Dakotas, 

 Manitoba and Saskatchewan. 



