The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-07-08
BIRDS OF INDIANA.
A Reminisccncc of the Days of Swans
md wild Turkeys.

(From the indianapolis rress)
Speaking Of the birds of Indiana, Will
lam Watson Woollen said:
In no respect. perhaps. hes there been
greater changes in Indiana. in the GEN.
fury that now closes, than in that rela,,
ing to the birds.
"a hundred years ago Indiana was al.
most trackless wilderness. with here and
there marshes. which had not been ira.
versed except by water animals and fowls.
The forests were Sc dense that they were
almost impenetrable. and in them in mid
day 1t was like the dusk of evening" as we
have it now, and the marshes were like
great lakes. except that the marsh grasses
and flowers gave them the appearance of
vast prairies.
Instead of the dense wilderness and
great marshes, at the close of the century.
we have almost an unbroken. we'll irlined
prairie Many OF the birds that then ez-
listed. such as the ivory-billed and plated
woodpeckers, wild or passenger pigeons.
wild turkeys. paroquets, are now almost
extinct.
Il can remember to have seen wild tur-
keys within four miles of the centre CT
Indianapolis. and l have seen the wild, or
passenger, pigeons in the springtime pass
ing all day long in numbers so great that
they appeared like so many floating clouds
a lover of the dense forests. and | well
remember having seen him often in our
'clearings.' He was noble-io,king bird
We called him the woodcock. Prof. Z. T.
Cox says that as late as 1853 the paroquets
we're found in this State. and in 1926 they
were as common as blackbirds.
MY fathers farm was situated eight
miles northeast OF Indianapolis and
through 1t ran what was called the Big
Branch. ! well remember when snipe.
ducks, and wild geese would visit US an
nuaily- Now the Big Branch is no more.
and the Place where it once was is an
open ditch, and with its going the snipe
ducks, and wild geese have gone. Big
Branch emptied into Fall Creek, and
remember how beautifully six white
cranes in the creek appeared when their
bodies were reflected in the water. These
birds are now birds OF the past Our chill
dren will never know them.
The birds that were are now. in the
main. replaced by birds that love small
wooded areas and thickets and the open
fields. Prof. A. W. Butler, in his mo
excellent monograph on the Birds OF In
diana in the Geological Report for 1897,
describes 321 birds that have been RESI-
dents or migrants in Indiana. / am in
formed that of these 120 now are summer
residents of and feed within the State.
The number OF these. it Is estimated for
fifteen years preceding 1897. were depleted
50 per cent in this State, but tits believed
they now are rapidly increasing again.
Indiana is well located 10 have and
maintain a full share of the birds 1t is
located in the Ohio Valley. with the Ohio
River on the south, the Wabash on the
west and the lake on the north 1t is well
known that the region about the Gulf OF
Mexico and the mouth of the Mississippi is
the rendezvous where the birds congregate
and make their start for the spring migra-
ton to the north country. In migrating
they are apt to follow the meanderings of
the streams. and the Mississippi and its
tributaries are the byways for many mil
lions of them. 1t is this habit that makes
Indiana a favored State, owing to the
fact that they come up the Ohio and then
up the Wabash. which, with its tributaries.
drains about two-thirds of the State The
fertility of the valleys of these streams is
unsurpassed and affords the land birds
fine opportunities for nesting and feeding.
The lake region OF the north part of the
States makes a fine feeding and nesting
place for the wading and water-fowls
1.-The people Of Indiana are alive TO the
usefulness of the birds. and Its law for
their protection is among the best in the
United States. II this is enforced the
birds will continue to increase and be the |
OF man"