THE OOLOQIST 



85 



no other locality, the writer has seen 

 this bird nesting fairly common more 

 than halfway through the state. 



The semi-arid prairies and plains 

 either side of the Missouri River, par- 

 ticularly west, attracts the Lark Bunt- 

 ing, Nighthawks, longspurs, Horned 

 Larks and Meadowlarks. 



The pine clad Black Hills and conifer- 

 ous Forest Reserves of the north- 

 western part of the state provides a 

 home for many western species that 

 are usually supposed to inhabit only 

 the Rocky Mountain region. Western 

 Robin, Townsend's Solitaire, White- 

 winged Junco, Dusky Grouse and 

 Clark's Nutcracker are some of these 

 western visitors. 



Between the Missouri River and the 

 Black Hills we have the Badlands af- 

 fording nesting places for the Rock 

 Wrens, White-throated Swifts and 

 Mountain Bluebirds. Again in the 

 state the many and increasing groves 

 are attracting eastern species farther 

 west and perhaps, to some extent, 

 changing their old established paths 

 of migration. 



The early settlers in the territory 

 were followed by the Quail, Prairie 

 Chicken, Crow, etc. In the north- 

 eastern part of the state the draining 

 of sloughs, intensive farming and pas- 

 turing has entirely driven away shore 

 and waterbirds that formerly nested 

 here by the thousands. 



Thus bird records are ever chang- 

 ing; observations made a few years ago 

 are not authentic today and observa- 

 tions made today may not hold good 

 tomorrow. The individual or institu- 

 tion that desired a complete collection 

 of South Dakota Birds, Eggs, and 

 nests will indeed find it a difficult 

 problem unless they began years ago. 

 But these conditions are true in most 

 of our states, however it makes bird 

 study none the less interesting. 



But with all these diversified con- 

 ditions existing in South Dakota there 

 is in no area a dearth of birdlife. Even 

 in the Badlands with its glittering 

 heat and scarcity of water, some birds 

 are fairly common as the Cliff Swal- 

 lows, Sparrow Hawks, Rock Wrens, 

 Kingbirds and Prairie Falcons, In the 

 grassy valleys and tablelands adjoin- 

 ing, and in fact over the whole plains 

 country are seen many Lark Sparrows, 

 Horned Larks, Western Meadowlarks 

 and Lark Buntings; while in the thic- 

 kets along the creeks may be found 

 Catbirds, Brown Thrashers, Sparrows. 

 Chewinks and Yellow-breasted Chats. 

 In the larger trees Kingbirds, Bul- 

 lock's Oriole, Flickers, Screech Owls 

 and Swainson's and Red-tailed Hawks 

 find nesting places. Birds that are 

 common over the state may be men- 

 tioned, the Western Mea'dowlark, King- 

 birds, Arkansas Kingbird, Lark Spar- 

 row, Cowhird, Crow, Sparrow Hawk, 

 Marsh Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird 

 and Flickers. 



Our resident birds, meaning birds 

 that do not migrate at all, include 

 Cardinals, Screech Owls, Quails, Chick- 

 adees, Canada Jays and Pinion Jays. 

 Those that migrate only a short dis- 

 tance are the Prairie Chicken, Prairie 

 Sharp-tailed Grouse, Crow, Flicker, 

 Downy Woodpecker, some Hawks and 

 Owls. 



While collecting in the Badlands 

 during August, 1914, we frequently 

 saw Western Lark Sparrows, Lark 

 Buntings and Cowbirds flocking to- 

 gether, resting together and feeding to- 

 gether. Whether they were forced into 

 this intimate association by seeking 

 the same shelter under cutbanks from 

 the intense heat, or drawn together by 

 some other attraction I do not know. 

 On a wooded island in the Missouri 

 River in August 1919, we often saw 

 Black and White Warblers and Chick- 



