160 A Pioneer History of Becker County. 
tion with civilized conditions any more than could the buffalo, 
antelope or elk, and there is no hope that they will ever again be 
restored to the old places where they were once so abundant. A 
few have left their names attached to lakes and rivers, as empty 
reminders of their early occupancy of the land. 
The following list of birds of Becker County has been com¬ 
piled from information in the possession of the Minn. Nat. Hist. 
Survey derived from several sources. In the early eighties Prof. 
W. W. Cook, now connected with the Biological Survey, Washington, 
D. C., was stationed at White Earth Agency and collected much 
information in regard to the bird life of that locality, which has 
found its way into print in several connections, particularly in 
his well known “Migration of Birds in the Mississippi Valley A In 
1883, Mr. Foster H. Brackett, of Massachusetts, who died a few 
years ago, prepared an annotated list of birds observed about De¬ 
troit in the month of May of that year. This list was published in 
the Quarterly Journal of the Boston Zoological Society, Vol. II, 
1883. The writer spent nine weeks in the summer of 1902 study¬ 
ing the birds of the Lake Itasca region, immediately adjoining the 
northeastern corner of Becker County, and the information there 
obtained applies equally well to the evergreen forests of the coun¬ 
ty under consideration. The data from these three sources have 
been used, supplemented by safe inferences from what is known 
of the general distribution of our birds. In this manner a list 
has been prepared which will, it is hoped, give to the general 
reader a fair idea of the bird life of Becker County. To the 
bird student, who may have opportunity to give close attention 
to the subject it will at least provide a basis for future more exact 
annotation. 
Total number of species of birds occurring in Becker County.262 
Water birds occurring in Becker County.83 
Land Birds occurring in Becker County.179 
Summer Residents (Breeding birds).1^8 
Migrants only .^3 
Winter Visitants .1 
Permanent Residents .1 
Accidental .13 
Extinct . 2 
co m 
