In the vicinity of Ithaca, there is a long, deep, and narrow valley, having somewhat rolling, glen-cut sides: in it lies Cayuga Lake, deep and weedless, stretching, like a broad river, to the northward. Its east and west banks are abrupt and rocky and cut, at intervals, by deep wooded glens. A small grass swamp, bearing a few trees, at the south end of the lake and running up into the city, is about the only low land in the vicinity. Formerly a mixed deciduous and evergreen forest covered the hills. Now, mere remnants stand near together upon small closely packed farms on both sides of the valley. The houses are numerous, the orchards large, and there are few fields not having some trees standing in them.
In the portion of Jefferson County where the notes were taken, the country is nearly level, with gentle undulations, and is traversed by Bark and Rock Rivers. The streams make a sharp line between prairies and openings on one side and heavy hard and soft-wood timber on the other. Marshes trend along the streams, and shallow reedy ponds are common. Compared with the vicinity of Ithaca, the farms are larger, the houses less numerous, the orchards smaller, the woods and groves larger, and but few trees stand in the fields.
Route 1 led from a point about half a mile north of Bark River out across cultivated fields. Routes 2 and 3 each led east from Rock River, north of Jefferson, alternately through pieces of heavy timber and across dry cultivated fields. Route 4 led from the Crayfish west upon the prairie southwest of Aztelan, traversing dry treeless fields and leading through two small groves. Route 5 led from the University buildings west across the valley, leading through a pasture, through the north end of the city, through the swamp, and up the railroad, bordered on one side by cultivated fields, and by tangled thickets on the other. Route 6 led directly east from the campus to Varna, and then southwest along the railroad. On this trip only cultivated fields were crossed and one small piece of woods traversed. Route 7 led up the valley from Ithaca along the east side, and then across to Enfield Falls. On this tramp we passed in turn along the railroad, bordered with small scattering thickets on both sides, across the inlet through low fields, and then past cultivated fields and small pieces of woods. Route 8 lay ten miles east of Ithaca, and led from McLean off to the southeast of Dryden, and then through Dryden to Freeville. A branch of Fall Creek was crossed twice, and, with the exception of a small marsh near Freeville, only cultivated fields and small pieces of wood were passed.
| NAME. | ROUTES. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| Turdus migratorius | 11 | 3 | 20 | 13 | 31 | 44 | ||
| Turdus fuscescens | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| Mimus carolinensis | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 25 | 7 | |
| Sialia sialis | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 17 | ||
| Parus atricapillus | 9 | |||||||
| Sitta carolinensis | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| Troglodytes aëdon | 1 | 5 | ||||||
| Eremophila alpestris | 3 | |||||||
| Cistothorus stellaris | 1 | |||||||
| Dendrœca æstiva | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Geothlypis trichas | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Setophaga ruticilla | 2 | 15 | 5 | 2 | ||||
| Pyranga rubra | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Hirundo horreorum | 5 | 5 | 12 | 7 | 20 | |||
| Tachycineta bicolor | 2 | |||||||
| Petrochelidon lunifrons | 2 | 12 | 10 | 55 | ||||
| Cotyle riparia | 13 | |||||||
| Progne purpurea | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| Ampelis cedrorum | 8 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 4 | |||
| Vireo olivaceus | 1 | 13 | 13 | 1 | ||||
| Vireo gilvus | 1 | 3 | ||||||
| Vireo flavifrons | 10 | 4 | ||||||
| Lanius excubitorides | 1 | |||||||
| Chrysomitris tristis | 9 | 27 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 28 | 32 | 44 |
| Poœcetes gramineus | 5 | 10 | 16 | 19 | 28 | |||
| Melospiza melodia | 6 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 7 | 33 | 23 | 73 |
| Melospiza palustris | 1 | |||||||
| Spizella socialis | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 33 | 17 | 36 | |
| Spizella pusilla (shot) | 2 | |||||||
| Cyanospiza cyanea | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Pipilo erythrophthalmus | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Dolichonyx oryzivorus | 18 | 3 | 5 | 22 | 52 | |||
| Molothrus pecoris | 2 | 10 | ||||||
| Agelæus phœniceus | 1 | 12 | 10 | 12 | ||||
| Sturnella magna | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 11 | ||
| Icterus baltimore | 7 | 11 | 5 | 3 | ||||
| Quiscalus purpureus | 2 | |||||||
| Corvus americanus | 1 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 28 | ||
| Cyanurus cristatus | 1 | |||||||
| Tyrannus carolinensis | 8 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 8 | |||
| Sayornis fuscus | 2 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 11 | |||
| Contopus virens | 3 | 20 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ||
| Empidonax minimus | 1 | |||||||
| Chætura pelasgica | 4 | 3 | 13 | 12 | ||||
| Trochilus colubris | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Ceryle alcyon | 2 | 7 | ||||||
| Coccyzus erythrophthalmus | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| Picus villosus | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| Picus pubescens | 1 | |||||||
| Sphyrapicus varius | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| Melanerpes erythrocephalus | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Colaptes auratus | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Circus hudsonicus | 5 | |||||||
| Falco sparverius | 1 | |||||||
| Hawk | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Zenaidura carolinensis | 5 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Bonasa umbellus | 10 | |||||||
| Ægialites vociferus | 17 | 2 | ||||||
| Tringoides macularius | 1 | 11 | 4 | 3 | ||||
| Actiturus bartramius | 2 | |||||||
| Ardea herodias | 2 | |||||||
| Ardea virescens | 2 | 3 | ||||||
| Rallus virginianus | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Podilymbus podiceps | 1 | |||||||
| Birds seen or heard, but not named | 20 | 36 | 18 | 15 | 20 | 69 | 100 | 101 |
| Total number of birds observed | 137 | 141 | 112 | 95 | 127 | 282 | 405 | 626 |
| Number of miles traveled | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2¼ | 5 | 7 | 11 |
| Average number of birds per mile | 34 | 28 | 37 | 32 | 56 | 56 | 58 | 57 |
| Total number of species | 35 | 27 | 18 | 17 | 23 | 22 | 31 | 32 |
Total average number of birds per mile in Jefferson County is about thirty-three.
Total average number per mile in the vicinity of Ithaca is about fifty-seven.
The notes from which these tables are prepared were obtained by walking continuously over the routes named, without retracing steps in any case. When a bird was observed a record was made in the form of a dot placed against the name of the bird. The dots were placed for convenience in groups of five each separated by straight lines.
It seems a little remarkable that the four averages of the two localities should so nearly coincide. The fact that they do coincide so closely suggests that, unless we have here an unusual recurrence of figures, the averages represent a tolerably definite factor of the bird population of the two localities at the time the observations were made. The statistics do not indicate the actual bird-population in the two localities; but they do show, it seems to me, the relative abundance in the two sections, and, to a large extent, the relative abundance of the various species in each locality.
It is to be observed that the notes from the vicinity of Ithaca were taken in June before many of the young birds were upon the wing, while those from the other locality were made after the breeding season. The two localities should not be compared, therefore, without taking this fact into account. For instance, all the Bobolinks observed on trip 8 were, with two exceptions, males. Hence the figures probably show only about one-half the number of birds of this species that existed in the territory at the time of the visit.
In July, 1878, about the middle of the month, I went over route 5 and 6 a second time to see what effect upon the average the addition of the young birds would have. The whole number of birds observed was a little more than double that observed in June.