INTRODUCTION. 13 



they find extensive breeding grounds. This change in the direction 

 of their migration causes them to move diagonally across the 

 northern half of Illinois toward the northeast. To this we are in- 

 debted for the vast numbers of migrants found along the lake in 

 this vicinity. Weary from their flight up the Mississippi and Illinois 

 rivers, they halt along the inviting ridges bordering along the lake. 

 After a short rest they resume their northward way, striking boldly 

 across the lake towards their summer homes in northern Michigan 

 and beyond. I have many times stood upon a wooded bluff on the 

 lake shore and seen flock after flock of warblers and other small 

 birds pass out of sight over the lake. 



"The fall migration is less uniform, the birds straggling along in 

 such a manner that it is difficult to trace any movement except a 

 general inclination to the south. A severe storm upon the lake 

 during the spring migration works sad havoc among the birds, for 

 when a fog arises they become bewildered and perish by thousands, 

 and large numbers are washed ashore. An instance of this kind 

 occurred the last of May, 1876, when I counted over two hundred 

 birds, representing over fifty species, in walking about a mile along 

 the lake shore." 



The Prairies. The author's personal acquaintance with the 

 prairies, their vegetation and their fauna, is very limited. In his 

 section of the State, there is no open or uncultivated prairie nearer 

 to Mount Carmel than 25 miles, the nearest one being Allison's 

 Prairie, opposite the city of Vincennes, Indiana. 



In Jasper and Eichland counties, prairies of considerable size 

 occur. They are offshoots or arms of the Grand Prairie, although 

 each particular arm or "bay" has its own distinctive name. A few 

 miles west of Olney, Eichland county, lies Fox Prairie ; and to the 

 southeast of this (the wooded bottoms of the Fox River and tribu- 

 taries intervening) is Sugar Creek prairie. These two are the only 

 prairies which the writer has explored ornithologically. 



The first visit to Fox Prairie was made on the 8th of June, 1871, 

 the writer and his companions arriving a little before noon. A 

 rolling plain spread before us, the farther side bounded by timber, 

 while the prairie itself was free from tree or brush, except where 

 some intersecting stream was followed by a narrow line of thickets, 

 interspersed with occasional fair-sized and gracefully formed elms ; 

 or along the edge, where the jungle of sumac, thorn-bushes, wild 

 plum, hazel, etc., backed by young oak and hickory trees, showed 

 plainly the encroachment of the woodland. Herds of horses and 



