20 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 86 



THE EFFECT ON THE BIRDS IN THE OPENING OF 

 THE PARK AND THE BUILDING OF THE RESER- 

 VOIRS IN THE VICINITY OF YOUNGS- 

 TOWN, OHIO. 



By George L. Fordyce. 



For the past ten years I have been keeping a definite record 

 of the migratory movement of the birds in Eastern Ohio 

 within a 12-mile radius of Youngstown. The opening of Mill 

 Creek Park, in which there are two reservoirs in the Mill 

 Creek Valley, and the enterprise of the Mahoning Valley 

 Water Company in building two reservoirs in the Yellow 

 Creek Valley has brought about a marked change as to the 

 birds that may be seen in this locality. 



Mill Creek Park is a deep gorge, extending about three 

 miles up the lower end of the Mill Creek Valley, with the 

 stream from which its name is derived winding through the 

 center. The source of Mill Creek is some 20 miles — almost 

 directly south of Youngstown. The gorge, the edges of 

 which represent the boundaries of Mill Creek Park, extends 

 about three miles up from where Mill Creek joins the Mahon- 

 mg River. On either side of this gorge are precipitous bluffs, 

 quite heavily wooded, with hardwood trees as well as a dense 

 growth of Hemlocks. During the spring migration this valley 

 seems like a funnel, which the birds follow in their north- 

 ward movement to where it narrows down to the park gorge, 

 in which the migrants stop over and are so concentrated that 

 one has a remarkable opportunity for bird observation. The 

 many miles of drives and walks in the park add very greatly 

 to this opportunity. 



Youngstown is located in the Mahoning River Valley, and 

 substantially all the territory covered by my observations 

 is in the Alleghenian Life Zone. Mill Creek Park, however, 

 seems to include some of the Transition Zone, and my records 

 show that more than 90% of the warblers which I have listed 

 during the period covering these records have been seen in 

 this park, including some 30 species of this family. With 

 the exception of four species of Warblers, which I mention 



