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



17 



Table IV. — Kinds of birds, and the number of pairs of each, nesting on a 50- 

 acre tract at Viresco, Va., during each of the five years, 1911 to 1915. 



Species. 



1911 



1912 



1913 



1914 



1915 



Species. 



1911 



1912 



1913 



1914 



1915 









1 





1 





6 

 3 



6 

 3 

 1 



1 



6 

 4 

 1 

 1 



5 

 4 



3 





1 







7 





1 

 1 

 1 



"Y 



1 



1 

 1 

 2 



2 



2 



1 

 2 



1 

 1 





1 







Grasshopper sparrow... 



1 







1 

 1 

 1 



1 

 1 











1 





1 









1 





1 



4 



2 









1 



1 



1 



..... 



1 



2 

 1 

 1 



1 



1 

 ..... 



1 



3 

 1 

 1 



2 



Catbird 



3 

 1 



2 



1 

 1 

 4 

 4 

 2 

 ...... 



1 



2 

 3 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 2 

 1 



5 



2 



7 

 3 





2 

 2 

 1 



2 





Phcebe 



3 



bier 



Crested flycatcher 



1 







Oven-bird 



3 



4 

 2 

 1 



1 

 1 

 1 

 2 



1 

 3 

 1 

 2 



4 

 5 

 1 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 2 

 4 

 1 

 2 

 1 

 2 

 2 



6 

 3 

 3 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 5 

 9 

 1 

 2 

 3 

 2 

 2 



6 



5 

 2 



4 

 2 

 2 

 7 

 1 

 1 

 3 

 2 

 1 



Ruby-throated hum- 





..... 

 ..... 





Maryland yellow-throat 

 Chat 







1 

 1 



1 

 1 



1 



Hooded warbler 



Downy woodpecker 



1 



White-eyed vireo . . 











1 













1 





Total number of 

 different species. . 



Total pairs of nest- 





30 

 53 





29 

 74 





Rough-winged swallow. 



27 

 48 



32 

 63 



34 













81 









THE POSSIBILITIES FROM BIRD PROTECTION. 



To increase the number and variety of birds about the home, 

 whether in the country or in the city, has become the laudable desire 

 of an increasingly large number of persons. Among the reports are 

 examples o£ such decided successes in these endeavors that a few in 

 detail will be of interest. 



Two city blocks, 10 acres in all, in the town of Aiken, S. C, have 

 for many years been liberally supplied with bird food and water. In 

 the summer of 1915 the following nests were counted: Blue jay, 14; 

 red-headed woodpecker, 11; mockingbird, 9; browm thrasher, 8; 

 catbird, 7; cardinal, 6; wood thrush, 4; orchard oriole, 1; towhee, 

 1; English sparrow, 4; total, 10 species and 65 nesting pairs. This 

 shows a large number of nesting birds comprising a comparatively 

 small number of species, the blue jay and the red-headed woodpecker 

 being the most numerous. 



At Olney, 111., Mr. Robert Ridgway has devoted 8 acres of land 

 to homes for birds. His aim is to have the greatest possible variety, 

 and of course as many individuals of each as is consistent with this, 

 but a great number of different kinds is considered more important 

 than mere numbers of individuals. As a result of more than ordinarily 

 favorable natural conditions, supplemented by the planting of differ- 

 ent kinds of shrubbery for bird food and shelter, furnishing a super- 

 abundance of nesting boxes, and supplying an unlimited quantity 

 of food all the year and water through the summer, these 8 acres have 

 become the summer home of TO pairs of native birds of 31 species, as 

 follows : Mourning dove, 13 ; screech owl, 2 ; yellow-billed cuckoo, 1 ; 



