66 MICHIGAN ACADEMY bP SCIENCE. 



to a distance of between seventy and eighty miles nortli and south, and 

 thirt}' miles east and west, and saw on its borders many full grown trees 

 still standing leafless, the bottoms of their trunks several feet under 

 water, and a still greater number lying prostrate. And, even on dry 

 ground along the margin of the submerged area he observed that all the 

 trees of prior date to 1811 were dead and leafless. 



He also made a careful examination of many of the cavities and rents, 

 some of them still several feet wide, and a yard or two in depth, finding 

 abundance of sand which some of the inhabitants, still living, had seen 

 spouting from these deep holes. 



It would appear from the foregoing, that these seismic disturbances 

 are not new to the district; and it would be interesting to have a report 

 of the recent disturbances to compare with those of nearly three-fourths 

 of a century ago, that attracted the attention of such scientists as Baron 

 Von Humboldt and Sir Charles Lyell. 



MICHIGAN BIRDS THAT NEST IN OPEN MEADOWS. 



BY L. WHITNEY WATKINS, MANCHESTER. 

 (Read before the Academy, Dec. 26, 1895.) 



AH have noticed that the places chosen by different species of wild 

 birds for their nests are not the same. Their homes vary in location and 

 style of architecture as much as do the characteristics of the birds them- 

 selves. 



Some species choose the dark, unfrequented forest for their home, 

 others the open field in the full glare of the sun; some the barren cliffs 

 of huge mountains, while others build floating rafts of mud and weeds 

 in the marshy ponds. Again others are content to tenant perhaps the 

 corner of a tumble down rail fence or nest in hollow trees or barns. 

 Some nest high up in the branches of trees while others, equally shy, 

 choose to rear their broods in bushes or upon the ground. 



As the great, orchard-like trees of the oak openings were girdled and 

 destroyed and great tracts of the heavy timbered land cleared, the lower 

 peninsula of Michigan became more and more similar in physical aspect 

 to the vast grass-land prairies of the southwest. Coincident with this 

 greatly altered environment, and continuing to the present time, was 

 inaugurated an unsettled, unbalanced condition in our avi-fauna resulting 

 in a great change in the relative preponderance of species. 



Those inhabiting the woodlands were crowded in a short time from 

 great areas, while species which had heretofore been fortunate in the" 

 finding of even small tracts of open land to suit their tastes, were turned 

 loose over thousands of acres of improved land within the period of a few 

 years. 



The Pileated Woodpecker was pushed north to the Canadian border, 

 disgusted with so called civilization. The Wood Duck found her old 

 stub nesting sites tipped over and burned; the Wild Turkey her briar 

 patches and brush pile homes destroyed. The Passenger Pigeon, while 

 enjoying the grain fields and fattening thereon in place of the wild acorns 

 and nuts, was exposed to the destructive devices of those who soon learned 



