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INTRODUCTION.
BOUNDARIES OF THE PROVINCE OF MANITOBA.

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In treating of the birds of this region it seemed most convenient to make the political boundaries of the province, those also of the district included, though this is scarcely defensible from the scientific standpoint. According to the Revised Statutes of Canada, 1886, chapter 47, the boundaries of the province of Manitoba were fixed briefly as follows: On the south, at the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, which is the international boundary line; on the west by a line along the middle of the road allowance between the twenty-ninth and thirtieth ranges of townships west of the first principal meridian, which line falls between 101° and 102° longitude west of Greenwich; on the north by the middle of the road allowance of the twelfth base line, which is north latitude 52° 50'; on the east by the meridian of the northwest angle of the Lake of the Woods which, according to Professor Hind is 95° 50’ longitude west of Greenwich.

In preparing my own map full use has been made of the maps published: by Professor Hind in 1860, by the Dominion Government in 1874, and by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company at various times between 1880 and 1890, also those drawn by Mr. Shawe for Phillip’s Imperial Atlas, and those issued by the Tenth Census Report of the United States. I have also supplemented these by information gained in my own travels, as well as that supplied me by Messrs. Tyrrell, Nash, Macoun, Christy, and other observers.

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In offering the following observations in their present shape, i. e., as they were made on the spot, without material condensation or generalization, I believe that I have taken not merely the best but the only right course under the circumstances. My original plan, as may be seen by the “notes” throughout, was to prepare something after a very old-fashioned model, but widening experience caused a considerable change of view. No one regrets more than myself their imperfectness, and, in some cases which I have pointed out, their unreliability. If I could see my way clear to revisit Manitoba in the near future I would gladly defer publication in the hope that I might first remove numerous doubts and fill many unfortunate blanks, but under existing circumstances there seems to be no course but to carefully revise my old journal and let it go forth for judgment.My own observations are supplemented by those of numerous observers in various parts of the province, and I have also endeavored to include all available records relating to distribution and all valuable published matter relating to the ornithology of Manitoba that has not appeared in a special work on birds. This excludes only Dr. Coues’s field notes * * * forty-ninth parallel, which, however, is constantly cited.In all the records I have given the exact words of the writer are quoted.Altogether I spent about 3 years in the province, my first visit extending from March 28, 1882, to November 16, 1883; my second from April 25, 1884, to January 27, 1885; my third from October 25, 1886, to January 12, 1887, broken only by occasional expeditions outside of our boundaries. Carberry was my headquarters, and except where otherwise stated all observations were made at that place.My companions, whose names appear, were Mr. Wm. G. A. Brodie, whose untimely death by drowning in the Assiniboine, May, 1883, robbed Canada of one of her most promising young naturalists; my brother, Dr. A. S. Thompson, with whom I lived, and Mr. Miller Christy. The last was with me during the latter part of the summer of 1883 and again for a few days in the July of 1884. He was the first ornithologist of experience that I had ever met, and I have to thank him for correcting in me many wrong methods of study that naturally were born of my isolation.My thanks are due to Dr. J. A. Allen, of the American Museum of Natural History; Prof. Robert Ridgway, of the Smithsonian Institution; and Dr. C. Hart Merriam, ornithologist to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, for the identification of numerous specimens, and other assistance, and especially to the last for placing at my disposal the manuscripts of Miss Yoemans, Messrs. Calcutt, Criddle, Nash, Plunkett, Small, and Wagner; to Prof. John Macoun, of the Canadian Geological Survey; Messrs. Christy, Nash, Hine, Hunter, and Guernsey, for numerous manuscripts, notes, and much valuable assistance; to Dr. R. Bell and Mr. James M. Macoun, both of the Canadian Geological Survey; Dr. William Brodie, of Toronto; Dr. Charles Carpmael, of the Canada Meteorological Department, and Mr. Ernest D. Wentle, of Montreal, for help in various ways; and to the Hudson’s Bay Company for access to the Hutchins manuscripts. Indispensable assistance in preparing the manuscript has been rendered also by my father, Mr. Joseph L. Thompson, and my cousin, Miss M. A. Burfield.The measurements throughout are in English inches.Ernest E. Thompson,86 Howard street, Toronto, Ontario.July, 1890.