181 



DISPERSAL BY STORMS. 



Folldwiiij;- heavy sttiinis, of wide extent, at sea. it soinetiines happens 

 that birds are blown or driven far inland. This, in part, accoinits for the 

 unusual oceurrence, at times, of numliers of certain birds. One of the 

 most notable instances of this was the wide dispersal of Briiunich's 

 Mnrres (Uria iomviai by a north-Atlantic storm, in December, 1896. 

 They Avere driven as far south as South Carolinji and over the eastern 

 United States, at least to Indiana and Michigan. A number of specimens 

 were taken in Indiana (Butler. The Auk, XIX. ISItT, April. I'.tT-i'OlM. 



CHANGES IX COXDITIOXS. 



The l)irds aliout us are not those that were familiar to our fathers. 

 Many kinds that were common to them have disappeared. Others that 

 they did not know have come to take their places. In the early days 

 of our history, dense forests stretched unbroken, save by water courses, 

 from the Ohio River northward almost to Lake Michigan. Through 

 these, threaded the runways of wild animals and the trails of wild men. 

 Within the gloom of these continuous woodlands dwelt birds peculiar to 

 such surroundings. With the clearing of our land, there disappeared from 

 that area many forest-inhaliiting- birds. The range of others became 

 restricted to the remaining timber districts. Meadows and pastures re- 

 placed the forests. Birds loving such surroundings, prairie forms, there 

 made their homes. 



The beatitiful little Carolina Paroquet (Conurus carolinensis), which 

 once ranged in countless numbers throughout the eastern United States, 

 as far north as the Great Lakes, has not only disappeared from our 

 limits, but also from almost every part of its range. From but a few 

 almost inaccessible localities in the Southern States has it been recently 

 reported, and it is now on the verge of extinction. It w%as last reported 

 in Indiana from Knox County in 1859 (Hasbrouck. The Auk, YIII. 

 Oct. 1891. pp, 369-379; Butler. Ibid. IX. Jan., 1892, pp. 49-56). 



The Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), the largest 

 representative of its family, was found in the early part of this century 

 in suitable localities in southern Indiana, notably in Franklin and Monroe 

 counties and in the lower Wabash Valley. Their shy. retiring ways led 

 them to leave when men appeared bearing the evidences of civilization. 



