194 STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE BULLETINS. 



mittee of which Dr. Coues was himself a member. In the back part of the last 

 edition of Dr. Coues' Key will be found the two nomenclatures side by side. 



PECULIARITIES OF OUR MICHIGAN BIRD FAUNA. 



Our bird fauna, like our entire fauna, owing to the protection given by the great 

 lakes, which nearly surround us, is very interesting. As Dr. C. Hart Merriam has 

 shown by a colored map, issued by the Department of Agriculture in March, 1892, 

 we have three distinct faunfe represented in our State: The Boreal in the north, 

 which includes our Northern Peninsula and the northern part of the Southern 

 Peninsula; the Transition, which occupies nearly all of the Southern Peninsula and 

 reaches slightly into Indiana and Ohio; and the Upper Sonoran which, though 

 mostly to the south of us. reaches into the southeastern and southwestern corners 

 of the State. Thus we meet in Michigan many birds peculiar to the far north, 

 and others that dwell for the most part in the states and countries south of us, 

 even reaching to or beyond the gulf. The first are illustrated in the Bohemian 

 Wax-wing, the Spruce Partridge, the Canada Jay and the Pine Grosbeak; while the 

 Summer Red Bird, the Mocking Bird and the Cardinal Red Bird illustrate the 

 second group. The large lakes attract to us many birds that are usually maritime, 

 like the gulls and the terns; while in southern Michigan, with its prairies and 

 woodlands both widely distributed, we get the prairie fauna, illustrated in the Pin- 

 nated Grouse, as well as those birds which are most at home in the forests or 

 wooded areas, like most of the thrushes and the warblers. This accounts for the 

 very large list of woodland warblers which we find in our State. 



The following birds have been reported from Michigan, but after as full inquiry 

 as I have been able to make, I do not feel warranted in admitting them to this 

 list: Sula bassana, Camptolaimus labradorius, Somateria mollissima boreallis, Ardea 

 ccerulea, Nycticorax violaceus, Rallus longirostris crepitans, Tringa maritima, Pavon- 

 cella pugnax, Haematopus paliatus. Jacana spinosa, Dendragapus franklinii, Sayornis 

 saya, Quiscalus quiscula, Milvulus tyrannus, Acanthis hornemanii exilipes, Ammo- 

 dramus leconteii, Sitta pusilla, Parus carolinensis, and Sialia arctica. There are a 

 few more that seem to be of very doubtful occurrence in our State, but I do not 

 feel warranted in excluding them, but have expressed doubt as to their belonging 

 to our Michigan fauna in the text. 



I have appended to this introduction, not only as complete a bibliography as my 

 time and resources would permit, but also our "Michigan Bird Laws," which are 

 usually excellent, and very wholesome in their influence. 



In the text I have recorded such facts regarding the food habits of our birds 

 as will enable every one to judge of the economic importance of the various species. 

 Where possible, as it is in most cases, I have given the food habits of the entire 

 family and omitted mention of them in speaking of the separate species. 



It will be observed that I have secured records from the southern part of the 

 State fi-om Messrs. Boies, Trombley, Wai'ren and Simmons; from the southern 

 central, from Messrs Purdy, Steere and Gibbs; from the central, from Messrs. Atkins, 

 Brownell, White, Eddy, Moseley, etc.; from the north central, from Prof. Satterlee 

 and others; from the northern extremity of the Southern Peninsula, from Messrs. 

 Leach. White, Boise, Osborn, etc.; and from the Northern Peninsula, from Messrs. 

 White, Boise, Brewster, Warren, Durfee. Kumlein, Kneeland and others. Thus the 



