Ridgway.] 308 [February 18, 



joining portions of Florida and South Carolina); Cyanospiza ciris 

 (one specimen) ; Protonotaria citrea (a very abundant and character- 

 istic summer bird in the bottom-lands); Dendroica dominica (not 

 rare, breeding); Antrostomus carolinensis (not rare, breeding?); 

 Campepliilus principalis (rare — but probably as numerous as it is 

 anywhere, and breeding) ; Conurus carolinensis (formerly excessively 

 abundant, but now exceedingly rare, except in certain bottom-lands, 

 and breeding) ; Catharista atrata (occasional) ; Ictinia mississippiensis 

 (very abundant on the prairies, and breeding) ; Nauclerus forjicaius 

 (excessiyely abundant on the prairies, and breeding) ; Elanus leucurus 

 (one pair noticed in summer at a lagoon in the bottom-lands) ; Tantalus 

 loculator (quite common, — breeding ?) ; . Plotus anliinga (rare as far 

 north as Mt. Carmel, but common towards- the Ohio,— breeding?); 

 Porzana jamaicensis (not rare, breeding); and Graculus diloplius var. 

 Jloridanus. Besides these, the writer has also found the Asturina 

 nitida (var. plagiata), a hawk of tropical America not previously 

 found within the United States (see "American Naturalist," Vol. vi, 

 July, 1872, p. 430), though it was obtained by Lieut. Couch on the 

 Mexican side of the Rio Grande, and has since been found breeding 

 in Arizona, by Capt. Bendire. 



The great mass of the birds, however, are mainly those character- 

 istic of the " Carolinian Fauna," as defined by Mr. Allen (pp. 394, 

 395), all of these being abundant, with the exception of some species 

 belonging to the littoral and pelagic series, 1 which, of course, are not 

 found at all. The following species of this fauna are permanent 

 residents in the lower Wabash Valley, and are as abundant in win- 

 ter as in summer : — Cardinalis virginianus, Tliryotlwrus ludovicianus, 

 Loplioplxanes bicolor, Centurus carolinus, Rhinogryplius aura, Parus 

 carolinensis and Thryomanes bewicki. The last two species Mr. Allen 

 omits from his list, but they are strikingly characteristic of the 



1 What I term the Atlantic littoral series is a group of birds composed of four 

 terrestrial and several aquatic species, which are never found away from the salt 

 marshes or beaches of the Atlantic coast. These species are the following: — Am- 

 modromus maritimus, A. caudacutus, Passerculus princeps, Corvus ossifragus, 

 Tringa canuta (?), Hcematopus palliatus, Rallus crepitans , etc. This series is rep- 

 resented on the Pacific coast by a corresponding one composed of Passerculus 

 Corvus caurinus, Aphriza virgata, Heterosceles brevipes and Hcematopus rostratus 

 and niger. The littoral series is to be distinguished from the pelagic series, com- 

 posed of various Longipennes and Anatidce. The latter, like the aquatic forms of 

 the littoral series, are more nomadic, and are apt to follow large water-courses 

 inland, many of them being found about the Great Lakes. 



