Contents the FALL MIGRATION of BIRDS at WASHINGTON HARBOR
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AN ECOLOGICAL SURVEY OF ISLE ROYALE, V. Avian Succession. ..................................................20 LAKE SUPERIOR 1. General Remarks ............................................. 20 2. Succession on Isle Royale ............................... 20 PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF a. The Aquatic Association and Habitat. ...................21 b. The Shore and Marsh Association and Habitat. ....22 CHAS. C. ADAMS. c. Bog forest Association and Habitat. ......................22 A Report from the University of Michigan Museum, published d. Aspen-birch Association and Habitat. ...................23 by the State Biological Survey, as a part of the Report of the e. The Climax Association or Formation and Habitat.23 Board of the Geological Survey for 1908. 3. Internal Factors................................................. 24 4. Environmental Factors...................................... 25 LANSING, MICHIGAN WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS 5. Environmental and Associational 1909 Convergence ......................................................... 25 6. Succession and Environmental Evolution ........ 26 7. The Relation of Succession to Organic Contents Evolution................................................................ 26 VI. Some Principles of Succession. ............................27 4. The Fall Migration of Birds at Washington Harbor, VII. Some Advantages of a Knowledge of the Laws of Isle Royale, Lake Superior, by Max Minor Peet............ 1 Succession...................................................................28 I. Introduction................................................................ 1 6. The Coleoptera of Isle Royale, Lake Superior, and Ii. The Environment. ..................................................... 2 their Relation to the North American Centers of 1. The Clearing .......................................................2 Dispersal, by Dr. Chas. C. Adams................................31 2. The Forest...........................................................2 I. Introductory Note......................................................31 3. Food....................................................................3 III. The Weather Conditions and Migrants.................... 3 II. Notes on the Habitat Relations of Beetles. .............31 1. Weather Conditions ............................................3 III. The Succession of Beetle Associations.................32 2. The Bird Migrants................................................3 1. The Lake Shore and its Beetle Associations.... 33 a. Warblers..................................................................3 2. Rock Openings and Associated Beetles. ......... 33 b. Sparrows .................................................................4 3. Lake, Pond and Bog Habitats and c. Hawks......................................................................5 Associations. ......................................................... 33 d. Owls ........................................................................5 4. The Forests and Their Beetle Associations...... 34 e. Thrushes .................................................................5 IV. The General Characteristics of the North f. Other Birds ...............................................................5 American Beetle Fauna................................................34 IV. Large Bird Waves.................................................... 6 1. Compiled Generalizations on the Fauna.......... 34 1. First Wave...........................................................6 2. Comments on the Preceding Generalizations 2. Second Wave......................................................7 and on the Literature of Geographic Distribution .. 47 3. Third Wave..........................................................7 V. The Present Centers of Dispersal of the Beetle 4. Fourth Wave .......................................................7 Fauna. ..........................................................................47 5. Fifth Wave...........................................................8 6. Sixth Wave..........................................................8 VI. The General Characteristics and Affinities of the V. The Relation of Weather to Migration. ..................... 8 Isle Royale Fauna. .......................................................51 1. Influence of Wind ................................................9 1. Faunal Characteristics...................................... 51 2. Influence of Temperature....................................9 2. Miscellaneous Notes on the Fauna .................. 52 3. Influence of Barometric Pressure .......................9 VII. Lists of Isle Royale Beetles...................................52 4. Condition of the Sky............................................9 1. List of Species Collected in 1905. .................... 52 5. Summary and Conclusion...................................9 2. Supplementary Listof Isle Royale Beetles, by A. VI. The Routes of Migration.......................................... 9 B. Walcott. ............................................................. 59 VII. The Perils of Migration. ........................................ 10 1. Fatigue ..............................................................10 THE FALL MIGRATION OF BIRDS AT 2. Natural Enemies ...............................................11 3. Blunders and Fatalities .....................................12 WASHINGTON HARBOR, ISLE 5. The Ecological Succession of Birds, by Dr. Chas. ROYALE, IN 1905. C. Adams........................................................................ 12 BY MAX MINOR PEET. I. Introduction.............................................................. 13 II. Representative Literature on Habitats And I. INTRODUCTION. Succession. ................................................................. 14 Our observations of the fall migrations of birds at 1. Habitat Preference............................................14 Washington Harbor extended over the period from 2. Succession........................................................16 August 18 to September 22. A hasty examination was III. The Major Avian Environments. ............................ 16 made of the bird life here before migration had really set IV. Minor Avian Environments and their Associations.19 in (August 5 to 8), and the observations gathered at this time, together with the records obtained the previous Isle Royale, 1908 / Part 1 - Chapters 4-6 – Page 1 of 65 year, gave us an insight into the conditions existing The second clearing, consisting of 3 acres, was divided there. This was important, as migration had commenced into two parts, a grassy tract and a garden in which while we were still at Siskowit Bay. potatoes, carrots, etc., were grown. From this a road (Fig. 56) led to the third clearing, called Wendigo, which Isle Royale is situated about fifteen miles from the north was about the same size, and contained two old log shore of Lake Superior, and lies nearly northeast by houses and two or three decaying sheds. Few of the southwest. Situated as it is several miles from the north stumps had been removed and hawks used them as shore and with an unbroken stretch of water 100 miles perches. The ground was overgrown with short, nearly across lying south of it, the island makes an excellent dead grass. White-footed mice were abundant in these point for the migrants to stop before crossing the lake. clearings after nightfall, and many Northern Hares were The birds seemed to center at Washington Harbor as if seen along the roads just at dusk narrow road wound focussed there from the north shore, and in all past the clearing and off along the base of the bluffs for probability the birds observed there represented the a mile or more to several abandoned cuts made by the avian life of many square miles on the mainland. old mining company. It was along these roads, which Records were kept of the species seen each day and ran approximately north-east and south-west, that the are given in tabulated form at the end of this paper. bulk of the migrants passed. Even during the heavy migration comparatively few birds were observed in the II. THE ENVIRONMENT. dense forests, although many passed along the river. It has been generally noticed that many birds, the smaller 1. The Clearing. Under the head of clearings, we migrants in particular, as the sparrows and warblers, include the three artificial clearings and the narrow roads prefer the borders of clearings, and a long narrow road connecting them. The first of these was situated on the through heavy timber and bordered by bushes and small shore of Washington Harbor, near its head and close to trees, appeared to be an ideal place for them. All the the mouth of Washington River. The trees had been clearings were surrounded by the dense, coniferous entirely cleared away over an area of several acres, forest except the first which fronted on the lake. making a rectangular clearing which had been seeded to timothy and short grasses. The waves had cut away the 2. The Forest. The forest may be considered to soil along the shore leaving a nearly vertical bank two or consist of all that portion which has not been entirely three feet high, in some places overhanging the water. cleared of the native trees. The major part consists of The land gradually rises from the water's edge, more balsam and spruce with a heavy undergrowth of ground rapidly at the southern end where a low bluff is formed. hemlock, and in places along