INTRODUCTION. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 



The State of Michigan, properly speaking, Hes between 82^ and 90^ degrees 

 west longitude and 41° 45' and 47° 25' north latitude. Isle Royal in Lake 

 Superior, however, belonging to Keweenaw County, extends northward 

 consideraljly beyond the 48th parallel. The state thus measures about 

 430 miles from north to south and 390 miles from east to west, and its area 

 is about 57,480 square miles, of which the Lower Peninsula contains about 

 41,000 and the Upper Peninsula 16,000 miles. Geographically, Michigan is 

 one of the most interesting states in the union for bird study, stretching from 

 the southern prairies to the great evergreen forests of the north, and touching 

 as it does all the Great Lakes except Ontario, with a coast line on these lakes 

 exceeding sixteen hundred miles. It includes almost every variety of surface 

 found in the eastern United States, with the exception of salt marshes and 

 lofty mountains. The average elevation of the entire state is 840 feet above 

 sea level, that of the Lower Peninsula 854 feet, slightly exceeding the average, 

 its highest point being just south of Cadillac in Osceola County, where the 

 land reaches 1,710 feet. Eighty-four per cent of the Lower Peninsula, 

 however, is below one thousand feet and all but a small fraction of one per 

 cent of the remainder is between one thousand and fifteen hundred feet, 

 all of which lies north of 44 degrees. The highest point in the Upper Penin- 

 sula, Mt. Whitney in the so-called Porcupine Mountains of Ontonagon County, 

 is 2,023 feet. When it is remembered that the surface of Lake Erie is 572 

 feet above sea level, Lake JNlichigan 581 feet, and Lake Superior 602 feet, 

 it will be seen that most of the state is of very moderate relief. 



As already stated, however, this surface is greatly diversified. There 

 are hundreds of miles of sandy beaches and pebbly shores, often associated 

 with some of the highest sand dunes in the world. Along the shore of Lake 

 Superior picturesque sandstone cliffs rise hundreds of feet sheer from the 

 ice-cold water. Great marshes are found here and there; thousands of lakes 

 are scattered among the ]:)roa(l savannas of the south and the wooded wilder- 

 nesses of the north, and a dozen goodly rivers and innumerable smaller 

 streams gather the abundant rainfall and carry it sooner or later to the Great 

 Lakes. 



CLIMATE. 



Many years ago Alexander Winchell wrote as follows of the climate of 

 Michigan: 



"The sinuosities of the several isothermal lines will demonstrate at a 

 glance the peculiar character of the climate of Michigan and the fact that 

 both in summer and winter, it is better adapted to the interests of agriculture 

 and horticulture, and probably also to the comfort and licalth of its citizens, 

 than the climate of any other northwestern state. The marked peculiarity 

 of the chmate of Michigan in these respects is attributable to the influence 



