12 



BULLETIN 1165, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Table 3. — Birds nesting on 40 acres of prairie at Onaga, Kans. 



Species. 



1916 



1917 191S 



1920 



Species. 



1916 1917 1918 



1920 



Bobwhite 



1 



1 



i 



1 

 1 





Dickcissel 



2 1 

 1 I 

 1 .... 

 I 



1 

 3 

 1 

 1 

 .... 



I 







tDownv woodpecker 







Catbird 





t Red-headed woodpecker 





1 





• 



fBlue jav 



1 











Cowbird 



1 



2 



1 

 1 

 1 



1 



..... 



2 

 1 





1 .... 

 1 





fOrchard oriole 





Bluebird 



1 



-(•Goldfinch 







Total number of species. . . 



Total number of nesting 



pairs 



10 9 IK 







3 



1 

 3 



4 

 1 

 1 



& 





15 12 



18 







7 



f Cardinal 

















♦Present every year. 



t Present only one year. 



Two tracts of 80 acres each near Harper show a similar contrast. 

 The first, on which reports were made in 4 different years, comprised 

 35 acres of alfalfa and sweet clover, 12 acres of grain, 15 acres of pas- 

 ture through which a stream runs, forming a small swamp of perhaps 2 

 acres, and 15 acres in the orchard, grove, and garden around the build- 

 ings, besides which there was a 1-acre grove of young catalpa trees. 

 On this tract the average nesting population was 122 pairs of 34 

 species, or 153 pairs per 100 acres. 



The adjoining 80 acres consisted of 45 acres of prairie pasture, 2 to 4 

 acres of alfalfa, and the rest planted to wheat or cane. There was in 

 this case also a stream and tiny swamp that attracted a few red- 

 winged blackbirds. Two years' reports showed this tract to be the 

 home of very few birds. The first year 16 pairs of 8 species were 

 found nesting; the second, 26 pairs of 9 species; an average of 26 

 pairs per 100 acres, a marked contrast to the first tract. 



OKLAHOMA. 



Near Norman, Okla., a count made in 1920 showed 31 pairs of birds 

 nesting on 40 acres. Of this land, 10 acres were prairie pasture and 

 the rest planted to corn, cotton, and oats. Two dickcissels and one 

 meadowlark nested in the pasture, one bobwhite in the oats, and the 

 other 27 pairs of birds in trees and bushes along the stream which 

 flows through the tract. 



TEXAS. 



Near Taylor, Tex., in 1916 a tract of 104 acres, of which 45 acres 

 were in cotton and 35 acres in sheep pasture, had only 29 pairs of 

 nesting birds. From the following list it will be seen that most of 

 these birds nested in the 8 acres of trees and shrubbery on the borders 

 of a creek crossing one side of the tract. The pairs of birds found 

 were as follows: 



Killdeer, 1; bobwhite, 1; mourning dove, 1; red-bellied woodpecker, 1; scissor-tailed 

 flycatcher, 2; Acadian flycatcher, 1; cowbird, 2; orchard oriole, 1; bronzed grackle, 2; 

 lark sparrow, 3; cardinal, 4; painted bunting, 1; mockingbird, 5; Carolina wren, 1; Eng- 

 lish sparrow, 3. 



Near Paris, Tex., in 1916, 80 acres of shrub-covered pasture showed 

 an average of 129 pairs of birds per hundred acres ; and several tracts in 

 the vicinity of Fort Worth the same year had an average of 120 pairs 

 per 100 acres. No data are available concerning the bird population 

 of the plains region of Texas. 



