185- 



From the south other forms .-ire rnn.uin.ii- into our limits. The iU.nck 

 Vulture (Catharist.-r atrata) was found by Audulion in southei'n Indiana. 

 From 1834 to 1S79. it was not reported from the Ohio Valley. It was next 

 noted in Indiana in 187'.» (Qu.ick. J. C. S. N. H. 1881. p. oil). It is 

 now recognized as a resident in j-ome numbers in the lower Wal)ash and 

 AVhitewater valleys, and is found in re.i;nlarly inereasing numl)ers In the 

 southern third of the State. Kewielv's Wren (Thryothorus liewickii) is 

 slowly spreading over the same district (Trans. Ind. Hort. Soc. ISO. 

 p. !»!>). It soon becomes acquainted with man and takes up its abode 

 about his huuie. In that region, it becomes the House Wren, re[>lacing 

 the larger Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) which has. latterly, 

 to a great extent, left the vicinity of man's structures and inhabits the 

 thickets and the underl)rush of the more open woods. These are not 

 to lie confused with the smaller Short-tailed \A'ren, the true House Wren 

 (Troglodytes anion), that breeds in central and northern Indiana. Other 

 birds, also, have changed theii- habits. The Purple Martin (Progne 

 su'nis). P>arn Swallow (Chelidon erythrogaster) and Pho'be (Sayorni* 

 phipbe) have generally sought after other breeding sites than the cliffs 

 and bluffs where the white men first found their nests. The Chimney 

 Swift (Cha^tura pelagicai now prefers an unused chimney to a hollow 

 tree. We have become so accustomed to these sociable birds that it is. 

 hard to realize that they have not always been dwellers with man about 

 his home. Some of them, most notably the p]ave Swallow (Petrochelidon 

 lunifrons) and the Purple Martin, have been the birds most persecuted 

 by the European House Sparrow (Passei' doraesticus), generally called 

 "English Sparrow." They have m.-ah" use of the nests of the former; 

 have occupied the sites of the lattt r. The result is that comparatively 

 few of either of these birds are left with us. 



INFLUENCE OF RIVERS. 



Tile rivers of Indiana penetrate the State from different direclions. and 

 each has its influence, be it greater or less, upon the distributimi >>t' life. 

 The most prominent streams are the Wabash and its triliutaries. and the 

 Whitewater and Kankakee. Lake Midiigan touches oiu- limits; and its 

 effect is likewise felt. The extension southward into the upland meadows, 

 between the water courses, of the liirds of the oi)en prairies, and the 



