BREEDING. 4 
is rare, because one or two records of its appearance in a 
year is all my books show. 
“Casual,” as used in this catalogue, means that the species 
to which it is applied visits the state only under unusual 
circumstances. Thus, the Great Gray Owl could not be ex- 
pected to reach Ohio except during an unusually severe win- 
ter when its food supply north failed. Casual stands close 
to accidental. A Red-tailed Hawk would be casual in a 
small city park, because that park lies within its range in 
the surrounding region. A Bullock Oriole would be acci- 
dental there because its home is in regions far removed. 
In the use of any of these terms except “Casual,” account 
must be taken of the habits of the birds. The Red-winged 
Blackbird may be abundant in the marshes of any county, 
but practically absent from the rest of that county. In the 
body of the work I have endeavored to indicate what are 
the regions ‘preferred by the different species. Account 
must also be taken of the size of the birds to which the 
terms are applied in each instance. Thus a dozen Red- 
tailed Hawks in a township would make that hawk appear 
almost abundant, while a dozen Chipping Sparrows or 
Robins in that same township would be almost rare for the 
species. 
Some prophet must arise who will be able to develop a 
system of relative terms for general use. Such a system 
is greatly needed in the further development of the depart- 
ment of field ornithology. 
BREEDING. 
Not the least difficult of the problems presenting them- 
selves for solution has been that relating to the breeding of 
many species within the state. So little was known of the 
general breeding range of many species when Dr. Wheaton 
completed his work, that it is not strange that he should 
have regarded as “probably breeding in the northern parts 
of the state’ several species whose breeding range lies well 
to the north. It is also more than probable that several 
species which remained to breed before the state became 
