The first bird atlas I owned was Montana Bird Distribution, 2nd ed., by P. D. Skaar, published in 1980. Resolution was poor, with winter and summer occupancy each presented in 47 grid cells—an average pixel size (to use today's jargon for spatial resolution) of over 3100 square miles! The obvious upside to poor resolution, however, was that maps for nine species fitted on a single page, making the entire atlas only 66 pages long. Using the options found on manual typewriters, Montana Bird Distribution managed to convey information on the distribution and relative abundance of species, confidence of records in the grid cells, spring arrivals, and state rarities.