THE BIRDS OF WAYNE COUNTY. 247 



also many damp, grassy meadows, some of them of wide extent, which 

 are in spring and fall the feeding grounds of numerous Meadowlarks 

 (Sturnella magna) and Killdeers (^Egialites vocifera). Even at the present 

 time large areas of forest still exist on some of these bottom-lands, though 

 of course much has been cleared, and in many places there remains only 

 a fringe of trees along the streams. The principal trees here are red maple 

 {Acer rubrum} and elm (Utmus Americana)', together with which occur 

 sycamore (Piatanus occidentalis) , black walnut (Juglans nigra), beech 

 (Fagus atropunicea) , white oak (Quercus a/6a), pin oak (Quercus palustris), 

 sugar maple (Acer Saccharuni), swamp hickory (Hicoria minima), slippery 

 elm (Uimus pubescens), and ash (Fraxinus p.?). These bottom woods are, 

 during the breeding season, frequented by such birds as the Red-shouldered 

 Hawk (Buteo lineatus), Barred Owl (Syrinum ntbulosum) and Crow (Corvus 

 americanus). In the many dead tree trunks several species of Woodpeck- 

 ers find homes, and the decaying stumps serve a like purpose for the 

 benefit of the Chickadees (Parus atricapillus). Here also in the winter 

 are found in greatest abundance all of the resident Woodpeckers; while 

 the Brown Creeper (Certhia familiaris americana) and Winter Wren 

 (Troglodytes hiemalis) seem to find in such localities the most congenial 

 surroundings. 



Throughout the lowlands of the Killbuck Valley in the southern half 

 of the County are frequent swamps, some of them of considerable extent. 

 They are always, except in the most extreme drought, overspread with 

 water, and are either covered with cat tail flags (Typha latifolia) and tall 

 rank grass, or overgrown with dense thickets and low trees; in either case 

 well-nigh inaccessible under ordinary circumstances. Here, as well as in 

 the undergrowth along the streams, flourish alders, willows of several 

 species, and other similar bushes; while the waste lands often surround- 

 ing them produce a luxuriant harvest of beggar4icks (Bidens frondosa) 

 and Spanish needles (Bidens bipinnata). 



These isolated bogs are the remains of what in the early part of the 

 present century was an almost uninterrupted swamp, extending south 

 from Wooster to beyond the limits of the County, and which, together 

 with all the lowlands in the valley, was covered with water for many 

 years after the advent of man to this region. This is evidently what was 

 once the bed of a pre-glacial lake, the former existence of which is attested 

 by the present topography of the locality. 



In this ancient lake were islands whose identity is still preserved, 

 their soil being of a conspicuously different consistency from that of the 

 surrounding lake bed, over which has been spread thick deposits of sand, 

 and of the vegetable mould which now constitutes the rich soil of these 

 bottom-lands. In this respect these islands are scarcely different from the 



