300 



oaks of various kinds. iMeager data were obtained on the feeding of 

 birds upon fruit, for it was very difficult to see them eating on ac- 

 count of the foliage and their wariness; furthermore, fruit-eating 

 birds were not present in numbers proportionate to the amount of fruit 

 there for them. This illustrates a condition very conspicuous in the 

 Charleston region generally — plenty of bird food but few birds to 

 avail themselves of it. The marked decrease in numbers of wild 

 native birds about Charleston during some ten years of the writer's 

 observations in the region, is undoubtedly due to other causes than to 

 a scarcity of food. Blue jays and tufted titmice were seen in Bates 

 woods pecking acorns or carrying them. 



The environmental conditions in the woods were diversified by 

 the character of the topography. There were marked differences in 

 the fauna of the upland and lowland woods; some birds preferred 

 one to the other. The ravine with the small stream also had certain 

 vertebrates not found elsewhere in the woods. 



Some observations were made on the effect of climatic conditions 

 on the vertebrates of the woods. The temperature of the air and 

 water in the woods, and the amount of moisture in the air are features 

 that undoubtedly affect the vertebrate life, directly or indirectly, by 

 determining the character of food, shelter, and other environmental 

 features present. These factors are the chief ones in bringing about 

 the marked seasonal differences in faunal conditions and in giving 

 rise to a variety of animal habitats and hence to a variety of forms 

 ranging from strictly acjuatic animals to those living in arid situations. 

 Some animals were found that live continually in the shade; others 

 were found that are attracted by bright siuiliglit. A dynamic climatic 

 feature was noticed in August, 1910, when a hard rain produced such 

 a torrent in the creek that the few fish in it were seemingly all car- 

 ried out of it, not again to return. Thus in a few hours a rain pro- 

 duced a marked and apparently permanent faunal change. 



The invertebrates had a powerful effect on the vertebrate life of 

 Bates woods, being food for the majority of the vertebrates found 

 there. Some insectivorous birds common in Bates woods are the 

 yellow-billed cuckoo, downy woodpecker, red-bellied woodpecker, 

 crested flycatcher, wood pewee, Acadian flycatcher, red-eyed vireo, 

 and tufted titmouse. The large bullfrog captured in the stream had 

 been eating small crawfish. Grasshopper fragments were found in the 

 stomach of a small toad caught along the stream. 



Little information was obtained concerning the influence of the 

 species of vertebrates on each other. A few haw^ks were noted, which 

 undoubtedly prey upon other vertebrates in the woods, yet none were 

 seen hunting there. Vertebrates may also affect each other through 



