SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF BIRD COUNTS IN THE U. S. 7 



RESULTS IN OTHER SECTIONS. 



In the report on the 1914 bird count it was stated concerning 

 the data received that year from the whole of the United States 

 outside the northeastern section — 



Less than a dozen reports came from the South Atlantic and Gulf States, 

 and the number is no larger from the States west of the Rocky Mountains; 

 while the reports from the Plains States — North Dakota to Oklahoma — are 

 too few to be used as representing average conditions in this region. These 

 three divisions, the South, the West, and the Plains, are so diversified in 

 climate and agricultural conditions and vary so widely in their bird life that 

 many more bird censuses must be available before generalizations can be 

 made for the whole country and reliable conclusions drawn. 



The reports received in 1915 from the South, the West, and the 

 Plains, instead of yielding a satisfactory bird return from these 

 districts, serve rather to accentuate the difficulties of the problem. 

 Deductions from a few of these, following, will show the wide vari- 

 ations and indicate the complexity of bird life in these parts of the 

 United States. 



COUNTS IN THE PLAINS REGION. 



Of a number of reports received from the Plains region from 

 Oklahoma to North Dakota, only those were selected which seemed 

 to have resulted from counts made under about average conditions. 

 These covered an average area of 56 acres, divided into 15 acres of 

 plowed land, 5 acres of hay land, 1 acre of orchard, 3 acres of wood- 

 land, the farm home with the other buildings and farm garden, and 

 the remainder, 29 acres, divided into about one-fourth meadow and 

 three-fourths pasture. The percentage is a little smaller than the 

 average for these States in plowed land and hay land, about the 

 average in meadow and pasture, and considerably above it in wood- 

 land and orchard. As these last two are the largest factors in the 

 size of the bird population, it follows that these enumeration areas 

 probably have a larger bird population per acre than the average 

 for the States as a whole. 



The avBrage of these reports shows 70 pairs of nesting birds of 

 22 species on the 56 acres, or at the rate of 125 pairs to the 100 

 acres, precisely the same as for farms in the Northeastern States, 

 which contained the farm home and exceptionally favorable con- 

 ditions for a large bird population. 



But while these figures are probably entirely correct for the part 

 of the farm which contains the buildings, it is not possible to estimate 

 from any data yet received the bird population on the remainder 

 of the farm outside the enumeration area. The farms in the Plains 

 region are large, averaging 297 acres each, as compared with only 

 108 acres in the Northeastern States. The part of the average 

 Plains farm not covered by the bird count consists of 241 acres, 



