Burns, on Wilson in Bird Census Work. 101 



sylvania to about the northern thnber hne. (3n the whole 

 his estimate of 400 birds to the square mile would doubtlessly 

 prove conservative for even present times. In his detailed 

 list following", we have something tangible, and it has oc- 

 curred to me that by the platting of a familiar tract of equal ex- 

 tent a comparison of the present and past in actual numbers 

 of species and individuals might be not altogether impossible. 

 Aly tract consists of one and one-half acres of fruit and shade 

 trees, together with several buildings comprising my house ; 

 three and one-half acres of hedge, .bush-and-brier-tangle 

 bordered pasture ; almost three acres of open thicket 

 connecting the rear ; and a small plat of a few square 

 rods containing a few evergreens, joining the west front 

 — about eight acres in all. True this tract lacks many 

 of the essential features of the historic garden — the 

 abundance of dense foliage, the buildings suitable for 

 swallow and Phoebe, the damp meadow fed by the Schuylkill, 

 and the proximity to the great Delaware — yet it is per- 

 haps almost equally free from molestation, within the 

 same faunal zone, and at no great distance (about 15 miles) 

 from the scene of Wilson's labors. 



The Swamp Sparrow has not been found as a breeder in 

 this neighborhood, the Yellow Warbler is altogether uncom- 

 mon, and while the Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, the 

 ]\Iartin, and the Warbling Vireo have more or less frequently 

 nested within this tract, they have only been present as 

 callers the past season. Then the three acres of thicket has 

 been turned into a secHon of a private park of late years, and 

 in consequence it has lost not a little of its attractiveness to 

 brush-loving birds. 



A comparison of the number of individuals representing 

 the species found in either place shows that six have practi- 

 call}' held their own, one increasing materially, and while four 

 species have decreased in number this would seem to be com- 

 pensated for to a great extent by the increase of additional 

 species, all of which are of undoubted benefit to mankind, 

 excepting the Waxwing and European House Sparrow. On 

 the whole, wath the single exception of the Purple Martin, we 



