'nil*: CONDOR 
Vol. XIV 
:i(. 
The streets of iSozeman are lined with cottonwood shade trees, in which 
many species of birds are common throu^'hont the summer. On the morning 
when 1 started my trip most of tlnmi were singing. They were principally com- 
mon species, snch as the Robin. Warbling \ ireo, W (\stern Wood I’ewee and 
'i’ellow \\’arbler. Among them, however, were two l)irds, nsnally occurring 
only in the evergreen forests of the* monntains. that here in Rozeman nest down 
in the valley among the cottonwoods. These are the Cassin Purple Pinch and 
the Pine Siskin. The song of the Pnrple I'inch 1 heard in several places on this 
morning, and in one place watched a brilliantly colored male, rendering his per- 
formance from the high branch of a leafy cottonwood. The Pine Siskins were 
decidedly common. Idle goldbnch-like song. inters])ersed with whispered, long 
drawn out and rather immnsical trills, was heard in the cottonwoods every- 
where, and the little brown streaked birds were frequently seen nndnlating from 
one tree toj) to the next. 
The first ])art of iny ride lay across the broad (lallatin X'alley, tbrongh 
the towns of llelgrade and .Manhattan. Everywhere were waving green fields 
of wheat, oats, barley, or clover and timothy. P'rom a few favored spots came 
the song of the Pobolink, now fairly common in many places in the valley, but 
the two birds by far the mo.st common, whose songs could be heard on every 
side, were the W'estern \’es])er Sparrow and Western Meadowlark. In IMoii- 
tana the IMeadowlark is the bird of the ])eo])le, taking the place in their hearts 
that the Robin holds with ])eople of the east, or the ^Mockingbird with those of 
the .south. He is fully deserving of this jdace too, for no other bird is so well 
distributed throughout the state, so abundant, .si'i fidl of joyous, overflowing', 
wonderfnl .song. Pie comes with the first return of .spring, and sings from the 
first day of his arrival till late summer, when he stops for a short time, onh^ to burst 
forth again with the first cool days of fall. In .some of the warmer spots he even 
remains throughout the bleak winter, and occasionally trys his voice on the 
warmer winter days. 
Swallows were fairly common in the valley, wheeling about the ranch 
bnildings. Nearly every barn had its colony of Cliff Swallows nesting nnder 
the eaves, and the l-larn and Rough-winged swallows, though less common, were 
seen frecjuently. In one ])lace where the road crossed an irrigating ditch over 
a small bridge, a pair of Rarn Swallows flew out from under the bridge, and 1 
sto])ped to investigate, and locate the nest that was jdastered against a cross 
piece beneath. In the Callatin N'alley the llarn Swallow seems much fonder of 
bridges than barns, in fact one feels inclined to want to change the names of 
several swallows to suit the locality: to call the Rarn Swallow, Rridge Swallow: 
th(‘ Clifif Swallow. Rarn Swallow: and to bestow tbe name of Clifif Swallow 
upon th(> \’iolet-green. 
.V few miles past IManhattan came the end of the main Callatin \'alley. The 
road, formerly level, took a decided droi:i down hill, and. after a mile or so of 
this, came out at Logan in the Three P'orks X'alley. I stopped at Logan for a 
short rest and finally rotle on to Three P'orks for the night. For several miles 
the road led across a broad, flat, mar.shy area between the Callatin and Madison 
Rivers. 1 remember seeing several I.ong-billed Curlews feeding about one of 
the i)ools. bnt 1 soon forgot to look for birds and paid all my attention to the 
myriads of mosf|nitoes. .Nowhere else in Montana have 1 seen them so abund- 
ant as they were here, d'hey swarmed about my head in thousands, and, though 
we. traversed tin* flat at a lo])e, masses of them settled thickly on my horse’s head 
