12 BIRDS OF OHIO. 



RIVERS. 



Only two of the rivers which flow into Lake Erie are of 

 much importance topographically the Maumee at its west- 

 ern end, and the Grand, near the eastern border of the state. 

 Between these the Portage, Sandusky, Huron, Vermilion, 

 Black, Rocky, and Cuyahoga form greater or lesser valleys, 

 and more or less extensive swamps at their junction with 

 the lake. The principal tributaries of the Ohio are the Mus- 

 kingum, Scioto, and Miami, and their tributaries, penetrat- 

 ing well into the northern third of the state. They are im- 

 portant highways for the birds in their migrations, and sev- 

 eral species belonging to the southern counties follow the 

 courses of these rivers farther north than they venture 

 elsewhere. 



LAKES. 



Natural lakes of any considerable extent are lacking, but 

 within the drift area in the north-east numerous small glacial 

 lakes are scattered. Four reservoirs built by the state to 

 supply the system of canals, furnish inland waters for many 

 species as feeding and nesting places. St. Mary's or Grand 

 reservoir, situated in Mercer and Auglaize counties, with 

 an area of 17,000 acres, is the largest ; the Lewiston, in Lo- 

 gan county; the Loramie, in Shelby; and the Licking, in 

 Licking, Fairfield, and Perry counties, are of smaller di- 

 mensions. The marshes which have formed in and around 

 these reservoirs support as abundant swamp life as the delta 

 marshes at the lake shore. 



THE BIRDS AND THE WATER BODIES. 



On the south the Ohio river exerts a marked influence 

 upon the bird fauna of that part of the state. Being a main 

 tributary of the great Mississippi river, and extending in a 

 somewhat northerly direction from that great thoroughfare 

 of the birds, it receives its portion of the northward moving 

 host each spring. The course of the Ohio river is so little 

 varied in character that it is not strange that some species 

 with somewhat southern tendencies should wander along 



