Xov., 1912 
A HORSEBACK TRIP ACROSS MOXTAXA 
217 
and neck. We were glad to cross the bridge over the Madison River and find 
shelter from the pests in the town of Three Forks. 
Ill the morning- I left Three Forks, crossing over the Jefferson, the third of 
the rivers which, uniting to form the Missouri a few miles north, gives the 
place its name. I had now entered Rroadwater County. The road here leaves 
the river and traverses the hills several miles to the west of it. For some dis- 
tance I climbed up the bare grass hills. The soil -was dry and rocky and the 
country consequently unsettled and used only for stock range. On the east side 
of the road were several coulees, where sage-brush grew thickly. From one of 
these came the song of a Sage Thrasher, and I turned my horse up the coulee 
to hear it better, and finally get a glimpse of the bird, in this part of Montana 
the Sage Thrasher is decidedly rare. This one made my third in over three 
years experience, and all the three were in widely separated localities. Sage- 
brush is slowR disappearing befoi'e the advance of settlement in many places, 
and with it many sage-loving birds are becoming rare. The rarity of the Sage 
Thrasher, however, cannot be for this reason alone, for there are many places 
where sage is still common, in which there are no Thrasliers. 
The song of the Sage Thrasher is something between that of the Brown 
Thrasher and that of the Solitaire. Flis voice is very similar to the Solitaire’s, 
and, heard at a distance, the songs sound much alike. From close at hand, how- 
ever, the song becomes less a mixed jumble of sounds, and the rhythmic quality 
of the Thrasher is more noticeable. There are certain definite phrases, repeated 
two or three times as with the Brown Thrasher, but' there is no pause 1)etweeii 
them. I believe the bird is more sparing of its song, not appreciating an audi- 
ence, but slinking silently oft' into the sage at the first approach, as this one I was 
watching did when I drew near. 
I soon reached the top of a low divide, in an area of flat open prairie. For 
several miles here the land was typical prairie land in every respect. The prin- 
cipal vegetation was biiffalo-gi*ass and prickly pear, and T Avas much delighted 
to find a typical prairie bird, the ^IcCown Longspur. In fact Longspurs and 
Desert Horned Larks were the only birds there were on this area. The Horned 
Lark, while common throughout the prairie regions, is found in many other dry 
g-ras.sy areas also, that are not true prairie, but the Longspur l)elongs to the 
prairie and the prairie alone. I had not supposed before, tliat this species ever 
occurred westward and southward of the main prairie region of the state, and 
for the remainder of the day I felt tlie charm and delight of having made a new 
discovery. 
The Longspurs Avere in full song, a charmingly sweet song, that tinkled 
across the prairie continually and from all sides. The song has been compared 
to that of the Horned Lark, but to my mind it is much better. The quality is 
sweeter and richer; the notes are louder and clearer, and above all, the man- 
ner in Avhich it is rendered is so different from that of the lark or of any other 
bird, that the lark passes into insignificance in comparison. The song is" nearly 
ahvays rendered Avhen in flight. The bird leaves the ground and flies upward on 
a long- slant till fifteen or twenty feet high, then it sp/reads both Avings outAvard 
and upward, lifts and spreads its white tail feathers, erects the upper tail coverts 
and feathei s of the lower back, and bursting- into song-, floats downward into the 
grass like an animated parachute, singing all the way. 
I soon left the, prairie behind, and crossed an area Avhere dry farmers had 
very recently taken up the land. New fences, Avithout gates, stretched across the 
