. Bird Census at Washington, D. C. li) 



there are in places rather extensive areas of bottomland, mud- 

 flats, and marshes ; the numerous small timbered streams tribu- 

 tary to both these rivers ; and the rolling upland farms inter- 

 spersed with more or less extensive areas of woodland. The 

 timber in this region is almost entirely second growth, although 

 in some places the trees reach a considerable size. Most of 

 the woods are deciduous, but there are groves of pines in many 

 places and a few scattered hemlocks along the river bluffs. 



Our careful bird survey indicated that 1913 was not a very 

 good year for birds, but the results are, nevertheless, from 

 several standpoints, decidedly interesting. One fact of distri- 

 bution stands out clearly, which is that the best places for birds 

 about Washington lie almost all in the more or less immediate 

 valley of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, including, of 

 course, the many small streams that intersect their banks. 



On this day the total number of species observed was 129 ; 

 of individuals actually counted, 12,257 ; though, since one of 

 the parties made no count of individual birds, this latter num- 

 ber is really too small. That the number of species seen is by 

 no means as great as could be reasonably expected, notwith- 

 standing the fact that Washington is not a particularly good 

 place for birds, is evident from an examination of the list, 

 which shows that there" are several species of water birds 

 (particularly ducks, of which there is not one in the list), 

 shore birds, hawks, owls, flycatchers, warblers, sparrows, and 

 a few others, which might reasonably have occurred. This 

 absence of certain species must be accounted for by the fact 

 that certain unknown conditions were unfavorable for birds, 

 rather than by the lack of careful search, since the work was 

 thoroughly done by all the parties concerned. 



The six most numerous species, in the order of their abund- 

 ance, were as follows : English sparrow, barn swallow, tree 

 swallow, song sparrow, chimney swift, and catbird — rather 

 an unexpected list. 



The sixteen species least numerous, and of which only a 

 single individual was noted, are included in the following list: 



