The Great Destruction of Warblers: An Urgent Appeal 



By ALTHEA R. SHERMAN, National, Iowa 



THERE seems to be grave danger that one of the most widespread and 

 deadly catastrophies that have overtaken the birds in recent years 

 will pass from the memories of men before sufficient record of it has 

 been made. An urgent appeal is therefore made to every reader of this article 

 having any knowledge of the facts beyond related to report his observations to 

 Bird-Lore, as a contribution to the history of a disaster the extent of which 

 has not been recognized by those outside the confines of the tragedy. It is 

 safe to say that, had this disaster occurred in New England, New York, or 

 Pennsylvania, the reports of it to the ornithological magazines would have 

 been numerous, and consequently convincing. Happening, as it did, largely in 

 Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, outside the field of observation of those 

 accustomed to report such matters, this calamity has failed to attract the 

 attention of our leading ornithologists, and any skepticism they may now 

 feel regarding its vastness will be deeper in the future if the readers of Bird- 

 Lore fail to report their observations of this great catastrophe. Consequently 

 it is hoped that many will respond to this appeal. 



Averse as I am to loose and exaggerated statements, I do not hesitate to 

 voice my beHef that millions of birds lost their lives in the cold month of May, 

 1907. The blame for their destruction cannot be placed on men and cats, but 

 must be laid to the weather, and to the instinct of the birds to migrate on sched- 

 ule time. The spring of 1907 was very backward, vegetation being from three 

 to four weeks behind the growth of the average season, and insect life corres- 

 pondingly late in its appearance. 



'The Auk' for January, 1908, contained two articles that mention this 

 calamity, together with other matter pertaining to the 1907 spring migration. 

 Rev. G. Eifrig speaks of the death of Warblers in the vicinity of Ottawa, 

 Ontario, and Mr. Norman A. Wood writes of their mortality in some parts of 

 Michigan. From these reports we learn that the death zone reached eastward 

 of Ottawa fifty or more miles; and extended southwestward to Saginaw, 

 Michigan. The object of this writing is to gain information that will fix in a 

 general way the boundaries of the territory in which the 'Great Death' occurred, 

 as well as the magnitude of the destruction. While it is known that in the 

 region of the Great Lakes the cold was not severe enough to kill the birds, 

 it is believed that the death zone covered the greater part of Wisconsin, also 

 of Iowa, and all of Miimesota, and it is positively known that the belt was at 

 least one hundred miles wide, having a large list of casualites in the region of 

 Winona, Minnesota. 



At my home in northeastern Iowa, the cold was benumbing on May 14, 

 when Warblers in some numbers arrived, nine species in all. Some of them 

 seemed dazed and lost to fear, flying near to me, sometimes nearly or quite 



(37 s) 



