9 



and Prairie Larks, are expected to be found. The lower Wabash Valley is noted for 

 its extended "bottom lands" and "cypress swamps," which, for their flora, no 

 less than their bird life, are of much interest. The amount of bird life here in 

 summer is very much in excess of that in the northwestern corner of the State at 

 that season. The difference in the number of birds noted would be readily ob- 

 served. In the southeastern part of the State the land rises in some places almost 

 four hundred feet above the Ohio Kiver, within a mile or very little more. On 

 leaving the fertile river bottoms, with their successive terraces, one ascends the 

 steep river hills and soon reaches the wet flats where the drainage is so poor that 

 the water stands upon the surface beneath the oak and beech timber the greater 

 part of the year. There is an intimate relation between the topography and the 

 character of the soil here. There is a comparatively level plateau extending from 

 the Ohio River " bluffs" to the northward, west of the valley of the Whitewater, 

 and forming the water shed of a number of streams, some running into the White- 

 water and some into the White Kiver. This surface soil is usually a white or 

 gray clay, characteristic of the country within thirty miles of the Ohio River in 

 the southeastern corner of the State. From this one descends until the " broken 

 uplands" are found lying just below the level land. Still lower down the "hill- 

 sides" are reached. These rise more or less abruptly from the bottom lands. The 

 prevailing timber of this region is oak, maple, beech, sweet gum, black gum, etc , 

 and with them are found, each in its season, some birds which prefer these sur- 

 roundings Summer Redbiru, Cape May Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, 

 etc. East of the Whitewater River to beyond the Ohio line the country is more 

 level and the soil darker and more fertile, the land ranking with the best in the 

 State. The central portion of the State is comparatively level and very fertile. It 

 was more recently settled than the southeastern portion, and hence to-day there 

 may still be seen among the finest farms specimens of the largest trees to be found 

 upon Indiana soil. The northeastern part of the State has been but little explored 

 by the zoologist. Doubtless it will prove a valuable field for the one who will 

 occupy it. This is the "lake region" of Indiana. Within this quarter is the 

 meeting of two drainage systems the Wabash to the southwest and the St. Joseph 

 and St. Mary's to the northeast. The Wabash River is the line of principal migra- 

 tion in Indiana. As it turns to the eastward many routes Lave it for the north, 

 particularly just south of Lake Michigan, but many birds follow its course along 

 its length. To this fact seems to be due the peculiar distribution of such forms as 

 the Prothonotary and Cerulean Warblers, and in less degree the Kentucky, Worm- 

 eating and Sycamore Warblers. 



Much work must yet be done in noting the range of species, making local 

 lists, not only in the portions of the State unvisited by the ornithologist, but also 

 in obtaining much necessary information throughout the portions where observa- 

 tions have been taken, before we can at all understand the birds of this State. 

 As Mr. Ridgway has suggested : "At present we know the subject merely in out- 

 line, and what we assume to know is undoubtedly subject to greater or less modifi- 

 cation according to the species involved in the light of future information." 



Indiana is included entirely within the Eastern (Atlantic) faunal Province, and 

 while it is within the limits of the " Carolina fauna " of Mr. Allen, the southern 

 portion contains so many birds that are distinctive of the "Louisiana Fauna" 

 { "Austroriparian Province" of Professor Cope) that it has been thought it should 

 be referred to that district. 



