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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XL VII 



tioned are the ones which would be expected to show the influ- 

 ences of the factors indicated above. Those most frequently 

 mentioned as having increased in numbers include the robin, 

 meadow lark, bluebird, mourning dove, crow, grackle and cow 



Many birds which were reported as rare in W. C. Knight's 

 " Birds of Wyoming," published in 1902, are now reported by 

 collectors as being fairly common. It seems, therefore, that 

 Wyoming is rapidly becoming a more hospitable place for birds 

 in general. 



There is considerable evidence to show that the quail has only 

 recently migrated into the state, and that its migration was 

 from Nebraska up the valley of the Platte River. At present 

 it has penetrated as far as the mouth of Horse Shoe Creek on 

 the Platte and as far as Uva on the Laramie Eiver, which is a 

 tributary of the Platte. The quail seems to have appeared in 

 Wyoming first about 1890, and one informant thinks that it 

 dies off during the winters from lack of food, and is prevented 

 from further migration into Wyoming only because of lack of 



A similar evidence of the effect of food supply upon the pres- 

 ence of birds in the state is given by Stanley Jewitt, a govern- 

 ment collector, who says: 



I have found some kinds [of birds] very common in the more culti- 

 vated sections of Idaho and Wyoming during the last three years that 

 were almost, if not entirely, unknown a few years ago. Such birds as 

 the bobolink, yellow-headed blackbird and lark bunting, follow the 

 farmer as soon as irrigation systems arc completed. 



One of the most interesting points ascertained is in regard 

 to the English sparrow. In reply to a query as to whether there 

 are any isolated towns in Wyoming to which this sparrow 7 has 

 not yet found its way, Professor B. C. Buff urn replied that 

 there seem to be none of these sparrows in some of the smaller 

 interior towns, such as Tensleep and Nowood. 



About ten or fifteen species of birds new to the state have 

 been reported since the publication of Professor W. C. Knight's 

 book in 1902. It is hardly possible that these have all come into 

 the state since that time. Most of them had probably been 

 overlooked before, but however this may be, new birds can be 

 expected to enter the state from time to time, and certain of 

 those already there will become more numerous as conditions 

 are made more favorable for their existence. 



The quotations which follow are indicative of the source and 



