BIRDS. 105 



marshy cover introduce an element that brings in a variety of birds, 

 however rare or meager in numbers, birds that outside the park 

 breed on the adjoining plains among the lakes and ranches. 



Notable among these, including some for which there are no 

 definite breeding records, are the western grebe, Holboell grebe, eared 

 grebe, merganser, red-breasted merganser, hooded merganser, mal- 

 lard, gadwall, green-winged teal, ring-necked duck, bufHe-head, 

 ruddy duck, bittern, great blue heron,^ sora rail, coot, upland plover, 

 killdeer, shai*p-tailed grouse, mourning dove, turkey vulture, marsh 

 hawk, Swainson hawk, ferruginous rough-leg, prairie falcon, short- 

 eared owl, Acadian owl, Batchelder downy woodpecker, red-headed 

 woodpecker, nighthawk, magpie, crow, raven, cowbird, thick-billed 

 redwing, western meadowlark. Brewer blackbird, western vesper 

 sparrow, western Savannah sparrow, song sparrow, black-headed 

 grosbeak, lazuli bunting, cedar waxwing, yellow warbler, western yel- 

 low-throat, redstart, catbird, western house wren. Rocky Mountain 

 nuthatch, long-tailed chickadee, and willow thrush ; while on remote 

 wooded lakes, especially on the west side of the park, the shy soli- 

 tary loon is sometimes found. 



While by no means all of these birds will be seen by the hurried 

 tourist, as some of the hotels and chalets are too high for them, and 

 the generally frequented trails follow through the deep forest or over 

 the rocky passes, it is interesting to know of the presence of these 

 lowlanders, and the fact that the birds of the park range from such 

 familiar friends as the catbird, kingbird, and red-headed woodpecker 

 of the low country in Transition Zone to the unfamiliar ptarmigan, 

 leucosticte, and pipit of the Arctic-Alpine slopes above timberline 

 affords an interesting and striking illustration of the vertical vari- 

 ation of the park faima. 



BIRDS OF THE MIDDLE REGIONS. 



The characteristic birds of the warm low Transition Zone levels of 

 the park, which are associated with the silver leaf, service berry, wild 

 rose, D'ouglas spruce, and yellow pine, drop out in the middle or 

 Canadian Zone regions of the park, leaving only the species which 

 thrive in both the lower and middle regions or are characteristic of 

 the colder, higher regions of the Canadian, where they are associated 

 with willows and alders, shrubby birch, smooth Menziesia, honey- 

 suckle and blueberry bushes, lodgepole pines, and the firs and spruces 

 of pure Canadian Zone. 



The centers of bird life here are the lakes and streams with their 

 bordering willow and alder thickets, together with the burned-over 

 brushy slopes. Flying over the rivers and lakes, fish hawks and swal- 



1 In former years, sandhill crane. 



