ECOLOGY OF NORTHERN MICHIGAN. 65 



Superior. A Loon was once seen on Carp Lake and a Piecl-billed Grebe 

 was seen on Little Carp Lake. The only water bird found on the rivers 

 was the Hooded Merganser which was taken on Carp river. 



Although not an aquatic bird, I will mention the Osprey here as it was 

 seen flying over the water. It was first seen near the mouth of Union river 

 and afterwards over Carp Lake. It would circle around above the water 

 until it saw a fish and then it would plunge into the water after it. As far 

 as observed most of these efforts were successful. 



2. Birds Frequenting Shores and Banks of Streams. Shore birds were 

 most abundant along Carp and Little Carp rivers; only a few were seen on 

 the lake beaches. The Solitary Sandpiper was the only one seen in all the 

 places mentioned. The Lesser Yellow-legs was seen only along Little Carp 

 river. The Least Sandi3ir)er was seen along Little Carp river and on the 

 Lake Superior beach. rt\e Spotted Sandpiper was seen only on the Lake 

 Superior beach. These birds were always seen near the waters edge except 

 when on the wing. A Snipe was seen at the edge of the water along Carp 

 river, in the neighborhood of a grassy marsh. 



Another bird that was characteristic of the rivers and small lakes was the 

 Kingfisher, which was nearly always seen at the edge of the water, but never 

 on the ground. It always lit on some bush or tree, and was most frequently 

 seen on trees overhanging the water. The Great Blue Heron was seen 

 standing on the edge of Carp Lake once, and several times it was seen flying 

 over. 



Besides the birds characteristic of the waters edge, birds from the alders 

 and birds of general distribution were often observed on the beach of Carp 

 Lake and Lake Superior. This includes such birds as the Song Sparrow, 

 Swamp Sparrow, Crow and Raven. 



3. Birds Found in Grassy Marshes and in Alders. Closely associated 

 with the birds of the water's edge were the birds of grassy marshes and 

 alders along the streams. The birds often seen in the grassy marshes were 

 the Wilson's Snipe, Rail, Song Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow. The Rail 

 was onl}^ seen once in the grassy m.arsh east of Carp Lake. 



The Song Sparrow and Swamp Sparrow are not confined to the grassy 

 marshes, since both were also found in the alders. The Song Sparrow 

 was also found in the camp clearing (Station III. 3) and in one of the clear- 

 ings in the arbor vitae swamp (Station II. 1), so that the Song Sparrow- 

 may be said to inhabit clearings both natural and artificial, and the Swamp 

 Sparrow may be said to inhabit marshy clearings. In this case I have 

 classed the alders as a natural clearing because there were no trees among 

 the bushes. 



The only bird confined to the alders was the Alder Flycatcher, but several 

 others, of limited distribution, were found here, such as the Redstart, Swamp 

 Sparrow, Mourning Warbler, Olive-backed Thrush, Black-billed Cuckoo, 

 Least Flycatcher, Song Sparrow, and Water Thrush. 



The Redstart was rather common here and among the cedars near the 

 shore of Lake Superior (Station II. 1) and was also seen along Little Iron 

 river. It seems to keep near water and near the ground, as it was very 

 seldom seen in the high trees. 



The Mourning Warbler was found here, but also in the bushes of the camp 

 'clearing, and along the path to the lake in the cedar swamp (Station II. 1). 

 Thus it is seen that this bird is not usually found in thickly forested woodland 

 but is more decidedly a bird of the bushes or thickets. 



The Olive-backed Thrush was found on the mountain top, in the river 

 9 



