3Re f loboa i (!)Fnitl^ologi§t 



Vol. 2, 



gakm, la., @ctobep, 189?. 



No. 1. 



Birds Extinct in Iowa and Those 

 Becoming So. 



PAUL BARTSCH. 



Paper read before the First C'ongress of 

 I, O. A. 



'TpHE above subject presents 

 consummate interest, not 

 alone to the specialist, but to the 

 general public, which in this state 

 has enjoyed that liberal education 

 vvhich gives them an acquaintance 

 of the theme in a general sense, 

 if not in a scientific one. 



Before entering upon the de- 

 tails and habits of the specimens 

 which have becom.e extinct, and 

 such birds which soon will be 

 seen no more traveling through 

 the blue sky, over the blooming 

 prairies, and the green woods 

 that skirt our beautiful rivers, it 

 will be necessary to take a retro- 

 spect of fifty years ago. 



If one has been an ardent 

 reader of Cooper, and knows with 

 what grace, beauty, and splendid 

 imagination he turns over fifty 

 years of the history of the scenic 

 beauty of this country, he may 

 be able to picture for himself 

 what the surface of Iowa was 

 then like. The Western Prairies 

 were studded with lakes whose 



edges were surrounded by long 

 green sedges. The rolling hills 

 were covered with waving grass 

 and blossoming flowers. In the 

 lower sections majestic elms and 

 oaks raised their crowns to the 

 sky and spread their branches to 

 equal the length of their stem. In 

 this canopy of green the smaller 

 birds found their home, and if a 

 sycamore had outgrown by many 

 feet its pleasant neighbors, the 

 hawks and not unfrequently the 

 eagle chose it for their domicile. 

 Let us see then how il stood 

 with one of our beautiful birds 

 that has disappeared. The thin- 

 ner timber that skirted the mag- 

 nificent woods consisted chiefly 

 of birch and scrub oak. In early 

 spring "the bright sun was dark- 

 ened in its course," and the fright- 

 ened novice casting his eyes up- 

 ward beheld such a sight as has 

 never been equaled in the history 

 of our avi-fauna. This bird of 

 passage with its emblem of peace 

 sallied forth from its southern 

 home to nest in the bounding 

 woods spoken of before. Its long 

 wings fanned the air with incred- 

 ible speed for hundreds of miles, 

 rarely taking rest until they haid 

 taken up those grounds where 



