REPORT ON BIRD CENSUSES, 1916-1920. 19 



In 1918 the count was made on the 160 acres of this tract that 

 •contained the buildings with surrounding trees, all the garden, and 

 one orchard. Ninety-eight acres were in corn and the remainder in 

 pasture and meadow. This count found 152 breeding pairs of 26 

 species, including 12 pairs of Eno;lish sparrows, an average of 95 

 pairs of birds to 100 acres. This is a rather small bird population, 

 but comparing these figures with those in other years, it is found that 

 on the remaining 240 acres there would be only about 140 pairs of 

 b)irds nesting, an average of 58 pairs per 100 acres. As regards the 

 number of breeding birds, the conditions on this farm would probably 

 be typical of many thousands of acres in the grain-raising States 

 of the Middle West. 



Eerrville, Tex. — An interesting series of records, from south- 

 central Texas, near Kerrville, covers the six years 1914 to 1919. 

 This land is not on the Plains but in the broken country which marks 

 the transition from the high Staked Plains to the low coastal plain. 

 The country as a whole is characterized by rough limestone hills 

 broken by numerous small rocky canyons densely covered with 

 scrub, and has some springs. The counts made here were on 80 acres, 

 of which about 35 were under cultivation, including ^ acre of orchard 

 and 1 acre of garden. The character of the land is best described in 

 Howard Lacey's own words : 



My house is situated on the point of a hill at the junction of two narrow canyons, 

 one coming; in from the west and the other from the north; below the junction they run 

 south until they join Turtle Creek (a tributary of the Guadalupe River) after crossing 

 the main road going up and down that creek. 



The west canyon, which averages about 100 yards wide, and most of the valley below 

 the house (from 200 to 300 yards wide) are in cultivation wherever they can be culti- 

 vated and are generally in oats, corn, and sorghum; there is also a small garden and 

 orchard. A little creek winds down the valley now on one side now on the other, and 

 is subject to overflow and at times is nearly dry but never entirely so. A small irri- 

 gation ditch which is taken out of the west canyon is brought round by the house and 

 then joins the creek again. 



Both creek and ditch are fringed with brush and about one-third of the valley is 

 given up to thicket and small groves of trees. 



The valley is shut in by steep liillsides about 100 feet high, like the sides of a 1:)ox, 

 so steep that one has to use one's hands to climb them in most places, densely covered 

 with small trees. 



An exact enumeration of the black-chinned hummingbirds and 

 cowbirds was found impossible, the latter being here very numerous 

 and destructive to the smaller passerine birds, lew nests of which are 

 found without cowbirds' eggs. This ranch had as yet no English 

 sparrows. During the six years 45 different species of birds were 

 found nesting on this tract, 28 of which were present every year. 

 Exclusive of the hummingbirds and cowbirds, the bird population of 

 this tract averaged 147 pairs per 100 acres. (See Table 6.) 



