T6e S IoA\/a ^ Orni'tBofogis't. 
Vol. III. OCTOBER, 1897- No. IIII. 
ONE SMALL PIECE OF GROUND. 
BY BURTIS H. WILSON. 
Paper read before the Third Congress of I. O. A. 
T he number of birds that may be found in a small area is legion—provided 
the character of the ground is sufficiently varied. In the northern 
portion of the city of Davenport, Iowa, just outside the thickly settled district, 
is a piece of ground, about two acres in extent, belonging to a florist, who, 
for several years, has not taken the care of his grounds that he did when he 
was young and doing a flourishing business. The grounds are divided nearly 
in half by the greenhouses which extend from east to west. Let us look first 
at the southern half. 
From the-g^een houses the land slopes toward the south-east the extreme 
corner being cut off by a little creek. This little corner is filled with a grove 
of small maples. From the creek to the southwest corner, the fence is lined 
wdth bushes and small trees, as is also the fence on the west side. North of 
the greenhouses the land is different. The north end fence is overgrown with 
woodbine and raspberry vines; next to it stands a “wind-brake” of several 
rows of maples, very close together and very tall, running the whole width of 
the grounds. Then at short intervals south of these trees are rows of small 
trees of many varieties, overgrown with vines, blackberry bushes, rows of 
currant bushes and flowering shrubs. Only the extreme half of the northern 
part of the ground is thus covered, the part next the greenhouse being devoted 
to flowers. 
Taken as a whole these grounds are a paradise for birds, such as the 
Thrushes, Jays, Warblers, Vireos, Flycatchers, and above all the Fringillid(B, 
In the migrating season, hosts of Sparrows of all kinds. White-throated, 
White-crowned, Chipping, Field, Tree, Song, Swamp, Fox and the English 
Sparrows, Chewinks, Goldfinches, Grosbeaks, Purple Finches, and many others 
abound here. Among the rarer visitors during the migrations, I have noted 
one Harris’ and one Clay-colored, both being seen in the bushes at the north 
end. The “windbrake” of maples is the home of many Woodpeckers, especial¬ 
ly the Yellow-bellied, during the migrations. At one end of the row stand two 
or three evergreen trees with their bark pitted all over by these birds. Around 
the'@mergreens is a mat of berry bushes which is always full of birds. Among 
these maples, one spring, I flushed a Whip-poor-will several times and as this 
bird is quite rare here, I considered it quite a.find. Blackbirds and Orioles are 
