° 1914 J Tinker, Ornithology of Clay and Palo Alo Counties., la. 71 



The investigations were confined to the townships of Sioux, 

 Riverton, Lake, Freeman and Logan in Clay County and Highland 

 and Lost Island in Palo Alto County. These townships are in the 

 adjacent parts of the two counties (Fig. 1). 334 skins, 12 nests 

 and 8 sets of eggs, representing 86 species were secured, to which 

 have been added by purchase seven specimens, representing five 

 species. Most of the stomachs were preserved for future study. 



HABITATS. 



A description of the region has been given by Ruthven,^ and it 

 will be sufficient to quote the following general account of the 

 habitats. "Owing to the relief there is more diversity in the 

 biotic environments of the region investigated than is usual in the 

 prairie-plains region. The ridges and knobs, varying in height, 

 are separated by small areas of flat or gently rolling prairie, and 

 everywhere are lakes, ponds and sloughs of various sizes. The 

 immediate area studied was on the water-shed between the Mis- 

 souri and Mississippi river systems, the lakes examined being the 

 source of streams tributary to the different systems." 



Ruthven has classified the different habitats as follows: 



UPLAND. 



Upland Prairie. Uncultivated areas, covered by the original 

 vegetation of grasses and herbs, are still to be found on some of the 

 ridges. These areas are, however, becoming fewer in number 

 yearly, as more land is placed under cultivation. (Plate XI, 

 Fig. L) . 



Grain Fields. The greater part of the higher land has, within the 

 past thirty years, been placed under cultivation, and this has been 

 mostly at the expense of the upland prairie areas. 



Groves. In many places groves of soft maple, Cottonwood, wil- 



1 Ruthven, Alexander G., Contributions to tlie Herpetology of Iowa, p. 200. 



