10 BULLETIN No. 32. 



ALL DAY WITH THE BIRDS. 



The first attempt to determine how many species of birds 

 could be found in a single day in Lorain County, Ohio, was 

 made on May 17, 1898, by Mr. W. L- Dawson and the writer, 

 which resulted in a record of 102 species. May 8, 1899, wit- 

 nessed the experiment repeated, but on that day Mr. Dawson 

 could not continue the work after 8 a. m. The day's record 

 was 112. There have been two days devoted to this object 

 during 1900 ; the first on May 5, by Mr. R. L. Baird and the 

 writer, the second on May 19, by the writer alone. The May 

 5 record is 93, the May 19 record is exactly 100. The small- 

 ness of these two records is largely accounted for by the state 

 of the weather. May 5 opened with a temperature of 30° and 

 heavy frost, with a brisk north-east wind blowing ; conse- 

 quently there was not much movement among the birds. The 

 19th opened at a temperature of 50° with a strong north-east 

 wind and fine penetrating rain for the whole morning, driving 

 the birds to the dense underbrush where the foliage and the 

 dark morning conspired to effectually hide them from view. 

 The early morning work was disappointing in the extreme. 

 The reader will remember that the 1898 and 1899 records were 

 made under some difficulties, especially in the way of wet roads 

 which made the use of wheels impracticable, but on neither 

 occasion was the temperature low, nor was there any apprecia- 

 ble wind. There is probably little likelihood of being able to 

 take advantage of an ideal day for this work, if indeed there 

 should ever be one. However, if the first half of Ma}^ could 

 be spent entirely with the birds it is more than likel)' that a 

 more favorable time would be found than any yet taken advan- 

 tage of. But that is a dream for which there is no likely 

 fulfilment. 



A comparison of the species seen on these four occasions 

 proves not a little interesting, especially so as the range of 

 time covers no less than fourteen days in May. If it were 

 possible to give an accurate summary of the weather for the 

 first two weeks or more of May for these three years, this 

 comparison would throw some light upon the influence of the 

 weather upon the several species of late migrents, but that is 



