INTRODUCTION 7 



in number and limited to individuals occasionally driven 

 inland by storms, the tide-water or saltmarsh-frequenting 

 species also being excluded by its position. 



The list contains 75 water-birds and 169 land-birds; in all, 

 244 species and varieties. Of these about 23 are visitors 

 from the coast, and about 36 are accidental wanderers 

 from various points of the compass, chiefly from the West 

 and South. Of the 185 species remaining, 95 land-birds 

 and 20 water-birds are fairly common, and should be met 

 with by an ordinary observer in the course of the year, 

 while the remaining 70 are either scarce or irregular in dis- 

 tribution, and are unlikely to be seen except by special 

 effort or good fortune. 



Appended to this list is a supplementary one containing 

 the additional land-birds recorded from New England; and 

 it will be noticed that nearly all of them have been taken in 

 Eastern Massachusetts. This fact is probably due to two 

 causes : first, to the presence of an ocean barrier to the 

 eastward, causing an accumulation of wanderers from the 

 West on its border ; and, second, to the populous character 

 of the district, which renders the detection and capture 

 of unfamiliar species much more probable whenever they 

 happen to occur. 



Of the 185 species which may be considered as forming 

 the avifauna proper to the district, about one-half are sum- 

 mer residents, one-third migrants or transient visitors, and 

 the remainder about half residents and half winter visitors. 

 It is probable that several species nominally considered 

 resident are represented by different individuals in summer 

 and winter. 



About 90 species, nearly all land-birds, have been noted 

 from time to time by various observers in the limited area 

 of the college grounds. 



For the benefit of the beginner living in Wellesley there is 

 added a brief list of those species most likely to be noticed 

 within a half-mile of College Hall. 



