The WiLvSon Bulletin — No. 47 43 



OBERLIN ALL DAY WITH THE BIRDS. 1904. 



Two somewhat different styles of "All Day" work were 

 attempted during the past remarkable May migrations. The 

 ■one followed the general lines of previous work, for the pur- 

 pose of determining what one man, or two working as one, 

 could do in a single day in recording the birds of this region; 

 the other attempted to cover practically all the different re- 

 gions and sorts of topography and ph}fsical features by work- 

 ing in companies of two persons each, the combined lists so 

 made determining the day's record. This work may be called 

 the "Company All Day" record. It is clear that such coop- 

 erative work would result in a much larger list, given the 

 same conditions, than individual work, provided the individ- 

 ual be unable to cover the same territory in a day. Two ele- 

 ments enter into individual work of this sort which seriously 

 hinder the searching of certain haunts of some birds; these 

 are the time available in a single day, and physical endurance. 

 If one could be certain what species were to be found in cer- 

 tain regions it would be possible to clean such region up and 

 pass on to the next, but since this is almost never true, he 

 must determine how much time it will be profitable to spend 

 here and there and yonder, seeking to make each stop count 

 for the most. There must be no actual stop in the lookout 

 for species, for at no time and in no place out of doors is there 

 tio possibility of making some new record for the day. One 

 must be on the keen edge constantly. 



It has already been hinted that the present May migra- 

 tions have been remarkable in many ways, in northern Ohio, 

 if not elsewhere. Elsewhere will be found an article which 

 attempts to give some conception of the conditions prevailing 

 in Lorain County during April and May. 



For the sake of continuity the "Company All Day" on 

 May 7 is given first. The accompanying table groups the 

 participants, giving to each group credit for the records made. 

 In the same table will be found the writer's personal record, 

 two days later, and two records by Mr. Dawson and the 

 writer, at later dates, when foliage and the progress of the 

 migrations proved unfavorable for more than ordinary lists. 

 The total of 131 species for the "Company All Day," and of 



