10 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 9-i 



less thousands," some remaining to breed, namely several 

 species of ducks, wild geese, cranes, and swans. From Robert 

 Ridgway's account in 1873 (American Naturalist, Vol. 7, 

 pages 197-203) of the birds of a piece of prairie near Olney, 

 Illinois, one gets an impression of the large and wonderful 

 bird fauna that parts, at least, of the prairie area of Central 

 Illinois must have had. He recorded ninety-five species of 

 birds in a short time, including some species that are very 

 scarce or apparently absent in the part of the country at the 

 present time, such as black terns, Mississippi kites, swallow- 

 tailed kites, ravens, yellow-headed blackbirds, and the two 

 marsh wrens. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



The plants of these prairie ponds have a more or less evi- 

 dent zonal arrangement, and each zone has a distinct bird 

 fauna, but many more observations than those recorded in 

 this paper are needed, before their faunas are well understood. 



The writer, during some dozen visits to these areas during 

 the last five years, found twenty-five species of birds in them 

 and five others in their immediate vicinity. 



Some other species, very probably found in these regions, 

 are: short-eared owl (Asio flaiiiiiiens), screech owl {Ofiis 

 asio asio), cowbird (Molofhrus atcr ater), migrant shrike 

 (Lajiius hidovicianus migrans), myrtle warbler {Dcndroica 

 coroiiata), and other warblers. People living near these 

 ponds say that wild ducks and geese come to them, often in 

 large numbers, during some springs when there is considera- 

 ble water in the ponds. 



Six species of birds were found breeding in these places, 

 and there is plenty of evidence that others were breeding- 

 there also. Red-wing blackbirds found conditions for nesting 

 especially favorable there. They showed a strong preference 

 for bushes instead of high grass or rushes or other herba- 

 ceous ])lants for nesting purposes. Buttonbushes were evi- 

 dently preferred to willows. Water birds seem to use these 

 ponds little for nesting, although thev visit them freely dur- 

 ing their migrations. 



