34 JOURNAL OF THE 
region are sometimes taken, having wandered, or having 
been driven by storms far out of their natural range. Incer- | 
tain species some individuals are always migratory, while 
others are permanent residents. 
Again it is well known that a form which is abundant some 
years, may be seen but rarely or not at all in after years. 
The changing area of the food products for birds naturally 
brings about a change in the area of their habitat. Hence it 
may easily be seen that continual observation during a num- 
ber of years is absolutely necessary before anything likea 
complete list of the avz-fauna of a particular region can be 
hoped for. 
Data.—My observations on the bird life of Chapel Hill be- 
gan in September 1897, and were continued up to the follow- 
ing April; then again from September 1898 until June 1899. 
With the exception of ten days in the latter part of June 1898, 
I had no opportunity for studying the region in summer. 
During the fall migration in 1897, the main part of which 
extended over the month from September 15 to October 15, a 
portion of twenty-one days was spent in the field in a special 
study of the warblers. Sixteen species of warblers were se- 
cured during this period. 
In gathering material for the catalogue much assistance 
was rendered by members of my ornithology class at the Uni- 
versity of North Carolina, in 1898, and again during the 
spring of 1899. Of those whose aid has been especially valua- 
ble, I would mention Mr. George McNider, Mr, E. H. Hartley 
and Mr. Ivy Lewis. I am indebted also to Dr. Kemp P. Bat- 
tle, whose close observations on the birds of the neighbor- 
hood, extending over a period of many years, I found very 
valuable. 
In the Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, 
Part 2 for 1887, Prof. George F. Atkinson published a ‘‘ Pre- 
liminary Catalogue of the Birds of North Carolina,” in the 
preface of which he remarks, ‘‘In all, about 120 species have 
been observed and absolutely identified by myself at Chapel 
Hill.” In his catalogue, however, Professor Atkinson omits 
