366 Blackwelder, Summer Birds of Iron County, Mich. [oct k 



Annotated List. 



1. Colymbus auritus. Horned Grebe. — -A single pair of grebes was 

 seen early in August on the upper course of the Menominee River. 



2. Urinator immer. Loon. — One of the characteristic birds of the 

 many lakes. On the small bodies of water only single pairs were seen and 

 they are rarely numerous at any one place. 



3. Mergus serrator. Red-breasted Merganser. — Birds with broods 

 of young were frequently encountered along the large streams such as the 

 Michigamme and Menominee Rivers. 



4. Botaurus lentiginosus. American Bittern. — Doubtless a common 

 resident of the open cat-tail marshes which border many of the lakes. The 

 birds are not often seen, however, unless their special haunts are invaded. 



5. Ardea herodias. Great Blue Heron. — Single birds are seen not 

 infrequently, especially along the larger rivers. 



6. Actitis macularia. Spotted Sandpiper. — This sandpiper is the 

 only common representative of the shore birds and it is confined to those 

 stretches of river banks and lake shores where there are sand bars or mud 

 banks. Since these conditions are not often fulfilled in this part of north- 

 ern Michigan, the bird is not particularly common. 



7. Oxyechus vociferus. Killdeer. — The Killdeer was seen occasion- 

 ally in low pastures in the better settled farming districts. Elsewhere 

 there is but little suitable territory for it. 



8. Bonasa umbellus. Ruffed Grouse. — A common denizen of por- 

 tions of the hard wood forests which are well provided with undergrowth 

 and are sufficiently remote from towns. 



9. Accipiter velox. Sharp-shinned Hawk. — A few of these small 

 hawks were seen in August and September in the more open country, in 

 the vicinity of towns and villages. 



10. Buteo borealis. Red-tailed Hawk. — ■ A common species in the 

 open country. Not a few of them frequent the plains once forested with 

 pines, but now transformed by repeated fires into barren wastes. 



11. Buteo platypterus. Broad-winged Hawk. — Two of these hawks 

 were seen at sufficiently close range to be recognized ; one on the Menominee 

 River in August, and another on the upper course of Iron River in Sep- 

 tember. 



12. Falco sparverius. American Sparrow Hawk. — Sparrow Hawks 

 are fairly common on the burnt-over plains and in the neighborhood of 

 farms. 



13. Pandion haliae'tus carolinensis. American Osprey. — A few 

 Ospreys nest along the larger rivers where they are wooded and not 

 bordered by settlements. Several were seen on the lower Michigamme 

 River. 



14. Strix varia. Barred Owl. — Large owls, believed from their note 

 to belong to this species, were heard repeatedly in the dense hardwood 

 forests in southeastern Iron County in July. 



