No. 557] 



NOTES AND LITERATURE 



313 



relhibility of the information from which the data of this paper 

 were taken. They are extracts from letters received in reply 

 to questions sent out by the writer. They are representative 

 of the letters received from people who have had wide experi- 

 ence in the state. I think the conclusion that the changed con- 

 ditions in the state in respect to increased raising of grain, tree 

 planting and the irrigation of large tracts have been the direct 

 cause of the increase in the number of birds, is justified. An 

 increase which has been so marked thai residents of the state in 

 general have noticed and commented upon it. 



Quotations from Letters Eeceived 



1. From William Richard, taxidermist, Cody, Wyo. : 



It has been my opinion for several years that the birds are on the 

 increase, excepting the sage hens, ducks and eagles, which seem to be 

 decreasing. 



2. From Louis Knowles, forest supervisor, Sundance National 

 Forest, Sundance, Wyo. : 



There has been a marked increase in the number of birds in this 

 region during the last ten or fifteen years. The increase has been in 

 numbers and not in species. The increase is undoubtedly due to the 

 gradual increase of cultivated areas. 



With Reference to the Quail 



3. From John Hunton, one of the oldest and best informed 

 citizens of Wyoming, Fort Laramie, Wyo. : 



The quail of the bob white species first made its appearance in the 

 Wyoming section of the Platte Valley at the Wyoming-Nebraska line in 

 the summer of 1890. They have gradually worked up the valley until 

 reaching the vicinity of Guernsey. They have also worked up the 

 Laramie River to the neighborhood of Uva. They are not and have not 

 been numerous, being pioneers, as it were. During the winter of 1908- 

 09 a covey of twenty-two frequented my yard here and fed with my 

 chickens. On last Friday morning, June 14, I heard two bob whites on 

 my meadow at Gray Rocks on the Laramie River, ten miles west of here. 

 Occasional coveys are to be seen or heard along the valleys of both 

 rivers as far as I have indicated. The quail evidently followed the 

 course of the Platte Valley from Nebraska, and they are gradually 

 working farther up the tributaries of the Platte as fast as the grain 

 belt advances. I believe the cultivation of the soil to grains of various 

 kinds is the only thing which has induced them to migrate west. 



B. H. Grove 



