July, 1921 
Citation of references is by the popular 
method of indicating a titie in the bibliog- 
raphy by a key reference consisting of the 
author’s name, with date of the article and 
the page. The care necessary to prevent 
errors by this method is shown by: the fact 
that in some way the key reference to 
Coues’ report on the birds of the 49th par- 
allei (1878) has been confused with that of 
an earlier work, with the result that in 
dozens of cases the notes are wrongly cred- 
ited to his article in the American Naturalist 
on the nesting of certain hawks. This error 
apparently runs through the entire work, 
with few exceptions. 
The accounts of Hmpidonax traiili and £E. 
alnorum evidently were not written in the 
light of the recent studies of Oberholser, 
which resulted in the former name being 
shifted to the eastern form, and the conse- 
quent renaming of the western species. How- 
ever, since the nomenclature throughout is 
understood to be that of the 1910 Check- 
List, this course is probably the more sen- 
sible one. We would suggest that the stand- 
ard set in other cases would seem to favor 
placing Krider’s Redtail in the Hypothetical 
List; we also question the advisability of al- 
lowing more than one form of the Blue 
Grouse for the Bighorn Mountains. 
The locality, Silver, Missoula County, 
where a specimen of Vaux’s Swift was col- 
lected in 1891, is on the St. Regis River a 
few miles southeast from St. Regis Pass, 
and is now known as Saltese. The writer 
has a recollection of hearing of this change 
of name many years ago, but has been una- 
bie to find the name Silver on any availa- 
ble map. This is an example of the greai 
dificulty experienced in locating places the 
names of which were formerly in common 
use but which have become obsolete. 
The only species which occurs to the pres- 
ent writer as having been taken in Montana 
and not included in the list is the Philadel- 
phia Vireo, a specimen of which was taken 
by H. E. Anthony at Johnson Lake, north of 
Culbertson, Sheridan County, June 3, 1910; 
it is formally recorded elsewhere in the pres- 
ent issue of THE CoNpDoRr. 
Distributional areas are divided into three 
categories, faunal, zonal, and associational, 
and as far as we are qualified to judge, the 
subject is well handled. We are inclined, 
however, to question the value of mentioning 
some of the less well-defined associations. 
Associations seem to furnish a subject so 
elusive, and yet so alluring, that an author 
is tempted to indulge in intricate and some- 
PUBLICATIONS REVIEWED 141 
times tedious discussions to account for the 
presence of species, when in fact the reason 
for such presence is self evident or the ex- 
planation tells only half the story. An 
example of the latter kind is the cita- 
tion of the Northern Pileated Woodpecker 
(i. e., the eastern form) as a characteristic 
species of the Yellow Pine Association west 
of the Continental Divide. This treatment 
is explained in the main account of the 
species, and while the subject appears to be 
conclusively treated from the standpoint of 
a State list, we are tempted to pursue it 
further. The Pileated Woodpecker is, as far 
as we know it, an inhabitant of heavy for- 
ests, either deciduous or evergreen, wher- 
ever they occur in sufficiently Jarge and 
continuous areas to afford the bird protec- 
tion and an adequate food supply. The spe. 
cies is thus a resident of the better-de- 
veloped or better-preserved parts of the 
eastern forested region from the Atlantic 
Coast to the Mississippi Valley, and from 
Florida to southern Canada. The bird is 
naturally absent from the Great Plains, and 
where the northern edge of this vast treeless 
area impinges on the great transcontinental 
forest, carrying its influence far northward 
and combining forces with adverse geologi- 
cal and climatic conditions so effectively as 
almost to bisect that great expanse of 
woods, as far as really heavy forests are 
concerned, the ranges of the eastern and 
western Pileated Woodpeckers are appar- 
ently separated (excepting one record) by a 
space of five hundred miles from Lake Win- 
nipeg to the lower Athabaska River. In the 
valley of this stream, the fertile soil of 
which, aided by a climate somewhat temper- 
ed by periodic mild trans-montane influ- 
ences, induces a heavy forest growth, we 
again meet with this magnificent woodpeck- 
er. From this section north to the Liard, and 
west to the Pacific, its range is practically 
continuous wherever suitable forests occur, 
and there is but little interruption. From 
British Columbia southward, the range of the 
bird is confined mainly to the country west 
of the Rocky Mountains, including the area 
in question in western Montana. Theoretic- 
ally then, all the birds of this northwestern 
area should be closely related, and we be- 
lieve that this is the case and that the indi- 
viduals living in western Montana and 
throughout the west Canadian range will be 
found to be referable to Phloeolomus pilea- 
tus picinus, if indeed this race, which seems 
to be but slightly differentiated, be consid- 
ered worthy of recognition. 
