129 

 Bird jSTotes From the Indiana State Fokestry Reservation. 



By Chas. Piper Smith. 



During the summer of 1903 I was fortunate in being located, for 

 f.ome five "weelcs, upon tlie State Forestry Reservation, in tlie "Knob" 

 region of soutliern Indiana. Altliougli engaged in malving a survey of the 

 plant life of the Reservation, my ears were ever attentive to the bird 

 voices about me, and a list of the various species heard or seen was pre- 

 served. Sixty-one species were noted within Reservation limits, as_ re- 

 corded below. No especial care was taken to study the relations of the 

 birds to the trees and their other natural surroundings; but a few genei'al 

 remarks may be based upon a review of the bare list. 



It will be noticed that the birds enumerated include forms character- 

 istic of both woodland and open, though the number of woodland species 

 far exceeds the number of kinds loving the field, sky or orchard. The 

 absence of running water, during the summer and fall months, makes 

 impossible the conditions necessary to attract water and swamp-loving 

 forms; hence the scarcity of such in the list. Of the two thousand acres 

 composing the Reservation, possibly eighteen hundred are wooded. Thus 

 it is apparent why the woodland birds exceed in number of species; and 

 it is likewise true that many of these woodland forms lead in regard to 

 number of individuals. Some four hundred feet difference in elevation 

 exists between the lowlands and the tops of the higher knobs, the deep 

 ravines between the knobs forming tempting bird haunts. 



Although not intending to give time to my favorite study, the l)irds 

 and all that concerns them, I was ready to give heed to Mr. Butler's sug- 

 gestion to look for the Pine Warbler, Dendroica rUjorsii, and evidence of 

 its nesting there. As far as known to us, this bird has not been definitely 

 reported as a breeder within our State, although there are several locali- 

 ties which have conditions apparently meeting the demands of this pine- 

 loving little warbler. What evidence I was able to glean is contained in 

 the following testimony, but it is, of course, not equal to the best evi- 

 dence, namely, the collection of a nest with the eggs and the parents. 



I first saw the Reservation on the twentieth of July and I began my 

 9— A. OF Science, '03. 



