Clinton County, Indiana - Chapter 2: Scientific, 1886

Chapter 2: Scientific

Boundaries. - Surface and Soil.; - Timber. - "Water-Courses. - Second Growth of Timber. - Wagon and Rail Roads. - Climate. - Geology. - Animals. - Birds. - Fishes. - Reptiles.

The county forming the subject of this volunie is located not far from the center of Indiana, and is bounded by Carroll and Howard counties on the north, Howard, Tipton and Hamilton counties on the east, Boone County on the south, and Montgomery and Tippecanoe counties on the west.

Surface And Soil

Along the streams and in some other localities the surface is gently undulating. Generally speaking, however, the county is quite level, being just sufficiently rolling to admit of fair drainage. At an early day the swamps, sloughs and mud with which the early settlers had to contend were a great impediment to travel, clearing and cultivation. These obstacles have been gradually overcome. A thorough system of drainage has been instituted in most parts; the roads are either piked or graded, and now Clinton stands among the foremost counties of Indiana, pointing with just pride to well improved farms under a most excellent state of cultivation.

The soil in most parts is a deep, rich loam, with a mixture of sand, underlaid with a texture of clay. There is a fine region of country'in the south of the county, extending from northeast to southwest, about twelve miles, on an average, in length, and from three to four miles in width. This is known as the "Twelve- Mile Prairie." No finer body of farming land than this, with thorough drainage, is to be found in this section of the State. Some other pi'airies of smaller dimensions are found within the borders of the county. The soil in the entire county is exceedingly productive and well adapted to the raising of corn, wheat, oats, rye, (350)

With the exception of the prairies, the county was covered with a dense growth of deciduous timber, among which was a very large proportion of walnut, poplar, ash, oak, hickory, maple, beech and other valuable varieties. There was also an undergrowth of plum and hawthorn. The walnut and poplar are fast disappearing, much of this having been destroyed by the early settlers in clearing their lands. At that time they had no adequate idea of its value.

Water Courses

The principal streams are the South, Middle and Kilmore forks of the Wildcat, passing through the middle and northern portions, and Sugar Creek in the southeastern part of the county. The exact course of these streams, with each tributary, may be seen by reference to the atlas of Clinton County, or to any good State map. Owing to the elevation of the land but few valuable springs are found in the county, but pure water in great abundance is obtained at no great depth by digging through sand and clay.

Second Growth Of Timber

After the Indians were gone, and the annual burning of the woods ceased, there grew up a dense undergrowth, and the highways of the early settlers consisted of narrow trails through the brush, the thickness of which may be illustrated by the statement of a pioneer that when driving cattle from place to place they often tied handspikes across their foreheads, which prevented them from leaving the trail.

Wagon And Rail Roads

The county is traversed in every direction, mostly east and west, and north and south, by good wagon roads. There is at present writing eighty-three miles of pike road, all free but eighteen miles, and twenty-four miles is now in process of construction, all to be free. This will make 107 miles of pike.

Five railroad corporations operate 100.92 miles of road in the county. They are the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago, Lake Erie & Western, Louisville, New Albany & Chicago, Terre Haute & Logansport and Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City.

Within the space allowed us in this work it is impossible to give a complete analysis of the climate of this locality, and the various causes which modify it from year to year. In this region we are free alike from the Arctic blasts of a New England winter and the enervating heat of the Gulf States; but as often as once in eight or ten years we are visited by a Polar wave, which continues for a greater or less length of time, sometimes giving us for several weeks a fair exhibition of a Labrador winter; and about as often the current sets in the other direction, and we have for a season the isothermal of the Tropics transferred to Clinton County.

This oscillation of temperature in different seasons and in the same season is owing to the vast extent of a comparatively level land, unobstructed by mountain or large body of water, from Hudson's Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. The average temperature for twenty-five years past, during the winter months, at Indianapolis was 35" Fahrenheit, or three degrees above freezing point. In Clinton County, owing to its greater elevation, the average must be somewhat less, about 32°. The mean annual temperature at Indianapolis, as obtained from fifteen years' observation, is 55='.

The number of days on which it rained or snowed in Clinton County in 1884 was 131. The average number of days in the year in which it rains or snows in Indianapolis is 128. The average depth of annual rain-fall may be set at from forty-three to fortyfive inches. The greatest number of rainy days occur in the month of March. The great rainfall of the year is closely contested by March and June.

The prevailing winds of this region are from southwest to northwest; the coldest are from a point between west and northwest, and the warmest from a little west to southwest.

This is very nearly a climate of latitude; its elevation of 1,000 feet makes it a little colder, and there is a greater rainfall and more frequent atmospheric changes than generally occur in this latitude in places so far from the sea. This is caused by the position of the county, on the line of interchange of winds between the gulf and the great lakes. The water of the great lakes maintains in summer time a much lower degree of temperature than the land, and :the winds from the Gulf of Mexico, freighted with moisture and nnobstructed by mountain ranges, meet with no cooling surface to condense their vapors, until thev come in contact with the cool atmosphere in the lake region, when condensation begins, and soon a storm is the result, which backs southward until this region is favored with a thunder storm from the northwest. For this reason long continued droughts rarely occur in this region; and when they do occur they are generally ended by a storm from the northwest, produced by the above causes.

Thus it is seen that the position of Clinton County is a fortunate one, and that to murmur on account of the frequent changes of weather, or at "cold snaps" in spring, is double blasphemy; for such are the results of these fortuitous climatic conditions. When droughts occur, it is when the winds comes from a point a little north of southwest and has been deprived of its moisture in its passage over the mountains of Arizona and New Mexico. The most steady and long-continued rains in this region are from the east and southeast.

Since the early settlement of the country changes have been taking place which have, to a considerable extent, modified the climate, and these changes will continue until a further modification of it will be observed. Dr. K. T. Brown, in his chapter on the climate of Indiana, in the Historical Atlas of Indiana, says : "The greater portion of the State was originally covered with a dense forest, which, aided by the thick undergrowth of shrubs and weeds, completelj' shut out the earth from the direct rays of the sun, and greatly obstructed the free circulation of the air. The great level plain which embraces the greater portion of the State, receiving the water from the melting of the winter's snow and ice, and from the spring rains, retained most of it through the spring and summer, the drainage being obstructed by driftwood, leaves, growing vegetation, etc.

" This water, slowly evaporating, tempered the summer heat and gave a moist and cool atmosphere. In winter the sweep of the cold northwest wind was broken by forests, and the freezing of so large an amount of surface water as was retained from the fall rains gave offbeat enough to sensibly modify the winter cold.

"The earth, covered with a heavy coat of autumn leaves and decaying weeds, scarcely froze during the winter, and as soon as the spring sunshine warmed the air the earth was in a condition to respond by an early growth of vegetation. So, in the fall, the earth, not having been heated by the summer sun, soon felt the

" Now the forests have disappeared to make room for cultivated fields and the earth receives the direct rajs of the sun, and the air circulates freely, obstructions have been removed from the streams, and artificial drainage has in many places been added. The cultivated lands in many districts have been underdrained with tile, so that the melting snows and spring floods are carried away directly, and but little moisture remains to temper the summer heat by evaporation.

"The earth, relieved by drainage of its redundant moisture, and stripped of its protecting forests, is exposed to the direct rays of the summer sun. Before the fall months come it is heated to a great depth, and this heat, given ofl" to the air, carries the summer temperature far into autumn and postpones tlie advent of winter several weeks. But when the store of summer heat is exhausted and winter comes, the winds from the plains of the West come unobstructed, and the earth, now deprived of its former protection, freezes to a great depth.

For the benefit of the thousands of pupils who receive instruction in the excellent schools of Clinton County, and because the greater part of those who have come to mature years are unacquainted with the subject of general geology, it is advisable, before saying anything of the special features of Clinton County, to describe the formation of the woi-ld as a whole and give such an account of the great periods of the earth's history that we may be able to find our place in that history, and thus, as in locating a place upon a map first, we may be the:better able afterward to study it more satisfactorily and understandingly. Indeed, without this method of procedure, all our ideas are vague and the entire work unsatisfactory and unscientific.

Omitting the nebular hypothesis, which assumes the earth, together with all our bodies of the solar system, to have been in primeval times in the form of an incandescent gas of incomprehensible dimensions, and the second step derived from the former, through long cycles of whirling motion, radiation, and condensation, the liquid or molten earth, with its wonderful processes of crust formation, we begin our brief description with the process of

Bock-Foemation

The first or original rock is what was first formed as a crust, igneous rock, rock without form or strata - a mere slag. The earth, losing heat by radiation and becoming smaller, the crust, in accommodating itself to the smaller sphere, must necessarily rise in some places and sink in others, just as by the shrinking of an orange the rind becomes wrinkled. Then the water, having been previously formed as the result of the great world formation, the residue, the ash-heap of the great conflagration, obeying the law of gravity, is gathered together into the depressed areas and thus the dry land, or rather the dry rock, appears.

Now, by the action of winds, rains, waves and the various chemical and mechanical agencies, the exposed rock is decomposed, carried to the sea, and deposited in horizontal strata, which, in process of time, becomes stratified rock, just as is being done at the mouths of the rivers and the beach and bottom of the oceans of to-day.

Basement Eock

From the preceding we may conclude that there is everywhere beneath the waters and soil of the earth's surface a basement of rock, sometimes called bed-rock. The outcropping of rock above the surface, the rocky blufts forming the sides of many valleys, the ledges projecting from the sides of mountains, and the cliffs of the sea-shore are portions of this rock exposed to view. Now, the various strata which compose the stratified rocks of the globe, with their included fossils, are the leaves of that great book ^hich unfolds to us the history of the earth thi-ough its incomprehensibly long periods of time. The lowest strata, of course, furnish us the first chapter in that history. In no part of the earth's surface is the record complete, but all have their long blanks - periods in which no strata occur. This is caused by the elevating of the crust above the waters of the ocean, and, when this is continental, finis is appended to the chapter, and the history of the rocks is finished forever.

In North America we have an excellent example of the unfolding and development of geological history, and as the continent gradually emerged from the ocean it left us the record almost complete. The following section is a representation of the successive geological ages, with the corresponding formations and periods of the globe, by the side of which is placed that of Clinton County with

Thus a glance at the section will show us our place in the history of the formation of the globe, not the least interesting part of which is the long blank between the Devonian and Quaternary ages, showing us conclusively that our soil rests upon the Devonian. At the close of the above-named period all Northern Indiana and a strip extending through the central part of the State to the Ohio Kiver emerged from beneath the sea and the history of the rocks of Clinton County was finished forever.

To enable the reader to grasp more readily the rock formation of the globe and of Clinton County during the six geological periods of the earth's formation - the Quaternary, Tertiary, Reptilian, Carboniferous, Devonian and Silurian - we append the carefully prepared diagram, which appears on the opposite page.

80 named by Sedgwick and Murchison, from Devonshire, England, where it occurs well developed and abounds in fossils, and its age, the Age of Fishes, so called because in it the first known fishes are found, is in no part of the country exposed to view, neither has it been reached in'the sinking of wells; hence all our knowledge of it must be gained from exposed areas and sections in other localities. Omitting the rock formation, because completely hidden from view, we come to the study of that which is apparent to all, that in which the farmer plows, upon which our wagon roads and railroads are builded, and upon which we all depend for our daily bread - the immense superincumbent mass of soil known as

The farmer boy, as he walks over the meadow with its carpet of green and wanders beside the babbling brook, or, as with sturdy hand he turns the grassy sward, uncultured though he be, asks himself the question, " From whence came all this that is spread out so beautifully around me? These huge stones which I see lying upon the surface or imbedded within the soil, how came they

* For a description of the rocks of this age, ami also of its Life-System, both animal and vegetable, the reader is referred to the three excellent works of Prof. Dana, the " Geological Story," the " Text-Book," and the " Manual," the masterly work of Prof. Le Comte, and to the many and valuable Geological Reports of OjIo and Indiana.

Of The Globe Periods. Rocks

here? Dj they grow? 'The hills, rock-ribbed and ancient as the sun,' how were they formed? and what is their history?" Ah ! I they could speak and tell us what scenes they have witnessed the story would be of far more interest than that of Belzoni's mummy, for it could tell us of the world not merely as it was ' ' three thousand years ago," but, stretching far back into the illimitable past, they could tell much of the Creator's plans in fitting up the earth as the abode of man.

All soil, with the trifling exception of the thin stratum of vegetable mold that covers the ground iu mmy localities, is formed from the disintegration of rocks. Now, there are two great classes of soil, to one of which every kind of soil may be referred, that is, soil formed in situ - in the place where found - and that which has been transported, when formed, to places more or less remote from the parent rock. It is to the latter of these that our soil belongs and hence that which we wish to treat.

Strewed all over the northern part of ISorth America, over hill and dale, over field and plain, covering alike, in places, all the country rock to a depth of thirty to three hundred feet, thus largely concealing them from view, and extending in general from the Rocky Mountains eastward, and southward to the fortieth parallel of latitude, is found this peculiar surface soil or deposit. It consists of a heterogeneous mixture of clay, saud, gravel, pebbles, subangular stones of all sizes, unsorted, unsifted, unfossiliferons. The lowest part lying in immediate contact with the subjacent rock is often a stiff clay including sub-angular stones; hence this is often called the boulder clay or hard pan. "These included boulders,"- says Prof. Geikie, "are scattered higgledy-piggledy, pell-mell, through the clay so as to give the whole deposit a highU' confused and tumultuous appearance." On examining many of these stones they will be found to be angular iu shape, but the sharp corners and edges are invariably smoothed away, their faces will be smoothed and frequently grooved with parallel scratches. Indeed in concretionary stones and others having an egg shape often one whole end has been ground off, showing conclusively its history. On the other hand, lying all over this drift soil, in clusters, in isolated rocks, and in belts varying in width from a single line to two or three miles, are found many boulders of all sizes ; in some localities tliey are of huge dimensions and weigh hundreds of tons. These unscratched, or erratic, blocks, as they are sometimes called, have attracted the attention and excited the wonder of those in the humblest walks of life, and since they are composed of materials foreign to the local geology were regarded by them as foreigners which had been brought from a distance and strewed over the surface or perched upon declivities in some incomprehensible way. It is now very appropriate to investigate the causes for all this phenomena spread out before us.

Whenever the underlying rock is of sufficient hardness to retain an impression, and for any cause is exposed to view, it is always found to be plowed and planed and grooved witli long parallel strife and ruts. Thus, these scratches, with the superincumbent drift, the boulder-cla}', and the surface boulders, furnish for us phenomena, the exact counterpart of which is found on a smaller scale in all the glaciated regions of the world to-day - Alaska, Greenland, Switzerland, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Antarctic continent. Given identical phenomena, we must conclude there was an identical cause. Given identical phenomena in the one case on a much larger and grander scale, we must conclude there was a cause of far greater and grander proportions. There was, then, a time in the past when for hundreds of years the winters grew steadily both longer and colder; the equatorial current, being pressed southward at Cape St. Roque, was pouring more and more of its waters into the South Atlantic. The moisture was all precipitated as snow, and these all mutually reacting upon each other so that each eifect strengthened the cause, brought about the period known as the great Ice Age, and formed an immense continental ice-sheet or Polar Ice Cap which extended in general to the fortieth degree of latitude, with local extensions of its icy fingers down river valleys far to the southward.

In the beginjiing of the' Archsean Age, at the time of the first known continental emergence in the history of the world, there was formed a high mountain range north of the great lakes, extending from Labrador to the Lake of the "Woods and thence northward to the Arctic Ocean, the degradation of which has furnished the material for the stratified rocks that surround it, and, being especially active in the glacial period, it also furnished the greater part of our drift material. Thus through the lapse of countless ages down to the present time, all the mountain peaks and chains of this Laurentian continent, as it is frequently called, have been removed and carried into the sea, and, as a result, there remain onl}' the truncated bases of the various arches and folds to testify to their former existence and magnitude. Thus we see that these archiean mouataius are the means, and the Ice Cap, together with what follows, the melting of the ice, are the agents in performing the final work in fitting up this part of our earth-home. For with its ponderous mass of ice a mile in thickness and constantly increasing as it approaches the pole, moving southward, it ground the softer rocks to powder, brought hitlier our soil, scooped out the great lakes and the multitude of smaller ones in their latitude, and by the retreating of the glacier, the immense floods and the consequent hosts of icebergs, the river valleys were hollowed out, the hills and the gravel beds formed, and the surface boulders were dropped by the river's side and over the fields and plains.

The glacier in forming the Erie basin, as is indicated by the furrows made at diflerent points, moved from east to west along the line of its way or axis. It plowed up the Huron and Erie shales, in the east end, to a great depth, but moving westward it came upon the hard floor of corniferous limestone and but a shallow basin was formed. Here the many beautiful and fertile islands particularly testify to the unyielding hardness of the i-ocks. Thence passing southwest to New Haven and Fort Wayne, and from New Haven down the "Wabash valley, it determined the valleys of two rivers which would, in turn, one day, through long periods of time, drain the waters of Lake Erie to the gulf, and convey to itself all the waters of the great Maumee basin. Now, by a process the exact reverse of that which produced the glacial epoch, there was brought about a period of mucli warmer climate known as the

Champlain

This was characterized by melting of ice and snow, a far more extended and higher condition of the great lakes, by multitudes of icebergs floating southward ov^er these inland seas and dropping their loads of earth,. sand, gravel and boulders, by numerous floods which broadened and deepened the river valleys and the pell-mell dumping of gravel and stones over hills and valleys, with the stratification of whatever was deposited by the water.

Proceeding from below upward in our investigations, we arrive at last at the thin stratum of vegetable mold covering the drift, which has been formed by the annual coating of leaves for untold years. This, together with the pulverized and partially decomposed granitic rock, the enormous drift covering, furnishes for the farmer a soil that is at once fertile and inexhaustible; for if he

Thus, though we are not blessed with mines of the precious metals, nor coal, nor iron, nor copper, yet we have in our soil an inexhaustible mine of true wealth, the foundation of a nation's true greatness, the basis, the hidden spring that sets in motion the wheels of trade and commerce throughout the world. And the farmer, in his high and time-honored calling, holds in his hands the electric key, by means of which he sends the thrill of life-giving pulsations throughout the whole world of human industry and sets in motion its countless spindles and wheels, the sweet music of whose hum is heard in every clime.

Although no large body of water exists within or near the borders of Clinton County it formerly had a respectable number of both species and individuals of the animal kingdom. It afforded the Indian and the pioneer an abundance of wholesome wild meats, and in great variety, as well as a plentiful supply of useless or mischievous animals. According to the rule the world over, the larger animals disappeared first before the advancing tread of human occupation, and then the next in size, and so on, down to the racoon, opossum, etc., which still exist, though in diminishing numbers. The buffalo and elk were the largest, and they disappeared on the very first approach of the white man, with his deadly rifle and indefatigable hound.

The common deer, which was abundant in pioneer times, is now very scarce in Indiana, being occasionally seen in some of the wildest portions of the State. The last one known to be in Clinton County was killed as much as twenty years ago.

The panther {Felix concolor) and two species of wild cat {Lynx Canadensis and rufus) used to infest the woods, and render traveling somewhat dangerous to the early settler, but the last seen in the county were about a third of a century ago.

Foxes aud gray squirrels keep up their proportion with the diminishing forest. The gray species is the most numerous, among which a black specimen is occasionally met with. Fljing squirrels are still here, but as they are entirely nocturnal in their habits they are seldom seen. There are also ground squirrels iu abundance.

Wolves, of the large gray "timber" species, were plentiful in early times, and more annoying and mischievous than all other animals put together; but they are now, of course, extinct.

"Wild hogs," or domestic hogs escaped and running wild, were abundant in pioneer times. In a few generations these animals became as furious aud dangerous as wolves.

Of the 250 species of birds found in Clinton County, either constantly or occasionally in emigration, the group of singers exceeds in number all others, though the really excellent musicians among them number but fifteen or twenty. The most numerously represented division, the wood warblers {TanagridcB) are not fine singers. The best songsters oi the forest belong to the thrush aud mockingbird family.

Tkrusk Family. - The superior singing bird of Clinton County is the superior singer of the world, namely, the wood-thrush. It is really more entertaining than the famous nightingale of Europe. Its melodious, flute-like tones are altogether " too sweet " for description. They are grouped into short tunes of eight, ten or twelve notes each, and there are six or eight tunes sung by this bird, with intervals of five to six or seven seconds between them. Next to this prima donna of the forest are the olive-backed (or Swainson's) thrush, Wilson's thrush, the northern mocking-bird (or cat-bird), the brown thrush and the robin. These are all migratory birds, spending the summer here but the winter in the South.

The robin sometimes remains all winter. The hermit and the olive-backed thrushes are more common in the spring and fall. The robin and the cat-bird frequent the orchards and gardens, nesting about the door-yards, and prefer these places to the woods, probably because of greater security from birds or other animals of prey. The brown thrush is found in the thickets of hazel-brush, briers, ttc , which skirt old fences and the edge of woods, and generally nests in brush heaps. The remainder of this family is confined to the woodland. Their food consists of beetles, grasshoppers, snails, spiders, caterpillars, etc., together with small fruits and berries.

Bluebird Family. - The bluebird is the only representative of this family in the county. It is common from spring to fall, nesting in bird-houses, fence-posts, decayed trees, and feeds on winged insects, worms, grasshoppers, spiders and a scant proportion of berries.

Kinglets. - The ruby-crowned and the golden-crowned kinglets and the blue-gray gnat-catcher are all common during the spring and fall. The first-mentioned is frequently found in winter, and the gnat-catcher is abundant during the summer. These are confined to the woods. The kinglets nest in the lake region, but the gnat-catcher nests here, building a wonderful structure high up on the oaks. It is somewhat purse-shaped, and often at the extremity of a bough, so as to sway with the wind, secure from enemies. It is placed in a concealed situation, and artistically, as well as substantially, finished.

Chickadee. - The titmouse, or black-capped chickadee, the only member of this family here, feeds upon insects, seeds, berries, crumbs, meats, etc., and generally nests in the woods, where it makes its home most of the year, but during the winter it is seen near the house, feeding upon sweepings from the table.

Nuthatches. - The white-bellied and the red-bellied nuthatch are common, especially the former. These birds are found in woodlands and orchards. Their nests are built in holes in trees. Food - ants, eggs of insects and seed.

Wren Family. - The Carolina wren is a very rare straggler from the South. The house wren is common locally. The winter wren is a common spring and fall visitor, often remaining during the open winters. The long-billed marsh wren is a common summer resident of the- marshes, building a large globular nest of coarse sand-grass, suspended to reeds or flag stems. The short billed marsh wren is a common summer resident, generally found on low meadow lands. The wrens feed on insects only.

Lark Family. - The horned lark is a winter resident, but sometimes breeds here. It frequents barren and gravelly fields, feeding on seeds and insects. When the ground is covered with snow they may be seen feeding upon the droppings of stock about the farm.

The Titlark is an abundant migrant in late fall and early spring, frequenting the same localities and subsisting on the same food as the preceding. There are sometimes large flocks of this species of bird.

Warblers. - These are numerous. The black and white creeper is a common summer resident, nesting on the ground, generally beside a fallen log. The blue yellow-backed warbler, a rare migratory bird, is sometimes found in the tree-tops of the wild forest. The blue-winged yellow warbler is rare. The blue golden-winged warbler is common in spring and fall. The Nashville and Tennessee warblers are very common. The orange-crowned warbler is rare. The yellow, the black-throated green, the black-throated blue, the blue, the yellow rumped, the blackburnian, the blackpoll, the yellow red-poll, and the chestnut-sided warblers are all common - some of them abundant; all migrants. The bay- breasted, the Cape May, the prairie, the yellow-throated and Kirtlaiid's warblers are rare. Tne golden-crowned thrush {Sciurus aibricapillus) is a common summer resident, frequenting low, open woods. The water thrush {^8. naevi%i,s) is rare, but breeds here. The largebilled water thrush is common in swampy timber lands. The Connecticut warbler is rare, but may become common. It is a fine songster. The Maryland yellow-throat is found occasionallj'. The black-capped fly-catching warbler is common during the spring and autumn. Canada fly-catching warbler, common. Eed start, very common.

Swallow Family. - The barn, cliiforeave, white-bellied, and the bank or sand swallows are common. The purple martin, formerly common, is being driven out by tiie English sparrow. The swallows feed exclusively upon winged insects.

Wax-wings. - The Carolina wax-wing or cherry bird is a common resident, breeding in August and September, and feeding on the cultivated fruits.

Yireos. - There are a half-dozen species of these in this section of the country, inhabiting woodlands, some of them common, some of them rare.

Shrikes, or Butcher Birds. - The great Northern shrike is rare; the logger-head shrike, two varieties, is common. These form a small but interesting family of bold and spirited birds, quarrelsome among themselves. They form a kind of connecting link between insect-eating birds and birds of prey. Their food consists of large insects, mice and small birds and snakes. They are noted for impaling their prey on thorns or sharp twigs and leaving them there - for what purpose is not yet known.

Finch and Sparrow Family. - Numerous; pine grosbeak, an occasional winter visitor; purple finch, a common migrant; whitewinged and red cross-bills, rare winter visitors; red-poll linnet, an irregular winter visitor; pine linnet, a rare winter visitor from the North; goldfinch, or yellow bird, common and well known - has the appearance of a canary; snow bunting, a common but irregular winter visitor; Lapland long-spur, a common winter visitor; Savannah sparrow, a common migrant; bay-winged bunting, very common from spring to fall ; yellow-winged Henslow's and Lincoln's sparrows are summer residents ; swamp and song sparrows, common, the latter abundant all the warm season; snow-bird, common in winter ; mountain sparrow, common in winter ; chipping and field sparrows, common in summer ; white-throated and whitecrowned sparrows, common migrants; English sparrow, abundant in the towns, driving out our native song-birds; fox sparrow, a very common spring and fall visitor; black-throated bunting, growing common; rose-breasted grosbeak, a common summer resident; breeds along the water-courses in low trees and shrubs ; indigo bird, abundant in summer, frequenting low woodlands overrun with briers; towhee bunting or chewink, abundant.

Birds of this family feed entirely upon seeds except during the breeding season. Those which are residents all the year and those which are summer residents only subsist during the breeding seasou and feed their young almost exclusively upon insects. At other times their food consists of the seeds of grass and weeds. The rose-breasted grosbeak is the only bird known to feed on the potato bug, and the white-crowned sparrow feeds on the grape-vine flea-beetle. The common yellow bird, or goldfiuch, prefers the seeds of the thistle and lettuce. Tae fox sparrow and chewink scratch the ground for hibernating insects and snails. The crossbills feed on the seeds in pine cones, and the English sparrow feeds on the seeds contained in the droppings of animals.

Blackbird Family. - Bobolink, common and well-known - a fine and cheerful songster; cow-bird, or cow blackbird, a summer visitor, frequenting old pasture land and the edge of woods; like the European cuckoo, it builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of smaller birds, such as warblers, vireos and sparrows. Redwinged blackbird, abundant in summer; meadow lark, well known; orchard and Baltimore orioles are very common; rusty blackbird, or grackle, is common for a week or two in spring; crow blackbird, common aud well known.

With the exception of one or two species this family is decidedly gregarious. Insects and grains constitute their food. The cowbird destroys the eggs and young of other birds. The orioles feed largely on hairy caterpillars aud also on some of the small fruits, green peas, etc.

Crow Family. - ^The raven was common, but is now rare. The common crow, well known, emigrates southward during the coldest weather. Blue jay is the gayest plumaged and harshest-voiced bird of the American forests. Birds of this family are omnivorous.

Fly catcher Family. - The king-bird is abundant in summer, frequenting orchards aud the edge of the woods; great crested flycatcher, abundant in the forest ; uses snake skins as a part of its nest material ; powee, or Plioebe bird, common ; wood pewee, a common bird of the orchard and woodland ; least fly-catcher, common in summer ; yellow-bellied fly-catcher, a common migrant, but rare summer resident. The king-bird and pewee frequent open places ; the others of this family dwell in the forest. They all subsist upon winged insects.

T/ie Chimney Swallow is the only member of the family CypselidcB that is found in this latitude. It is sometimes seen in large flocks, roosting in unused chimneys, barns and hollow trees.

WoodpeGher Family. - There are half a dozen species of woodpecker found in this locality, all common, viz.: The hairy, downy, yellow-bellied, red-headed, red-bellied and golden-winged. Omnivorous.

Owl Family. - The great horned, the mottled, the screech, the long-eared and tlie short-eared are abundant. The barn owl is a rare straggler from the South. Possibly one or two other species may occasionally be found here.

Hawk Fam,ily. - The marsh hawk, the sharp-shinned, Cooper's, the sparrow, the red-tailed, the red-shouldered, the broad-winged, the rough-legged or black, and the fish hawks are all common. The white-tailed kite, the goshawk, the pigeon hawk, Swainson's hawk and the bald eagle are more rare.

Plover Family. - The golden plover, the killdeer and the semipalmated are common about unfrequented ponds. The blackbellied plover is rare, if ever seen at all.

Sandpiper Family. - The most common species of this family are the semi-pal mated, least, pectoral, red-breasted, Willst, solitary, spotted and upland sandpipers, the snipe and the woodcock. Less common are the bnfF-breasted and red-backed sandpipers, long-billed curlew and perhaps occasionally two or three other unimportant species.

Heron Fam'ly. - The green and night herons, the bittern and the least bittern are common residents. The great blue heron is a common migrant and the great white heron a rare summer visitor.

are often seen in the vicinity of the streams and in the margin of ponds; the clapper, king, yellow and black rails, very rarely; the Florida gallinule, occasionally.

DucTc Fiimily. - The common species are the mallard, black, big black-head, little black-head, ring-necked, red-head (or pochard), golden-eye, butter ball, ruddy and iish (gosander) ducks, the brant and Canada geese, widgeon, golden-winged and blue-winged teal and the hooded merganser. Rarely are seen the pintail, gadwall shoveler, wood duck, canvas-back duck, long-tailed duck and red breasted merganser. All the duck family are migratory.

As there are no large lakes or streams in Clinton County, the number and variety of fishes are limited, especially in these days of mill-dams and city sewage.

SticMebach Family. - This furnishes the chief game fish, as bass and snn-fiah. The local names of these fish are so various that we scarcely know how to refer to them; but we may venture to name the black bass, the green or Osage bass, the big black sun-fish or rock bass, goggle-eyed and the two common sun-fish, all of which have materially diminished within the last five years.

Perch Family. - T\ieT& are no perch, or "jack salmon," in the county. They were once common throughout the State, but now are only to be found occasionally in some of the most favored places. They are among the finest fishes, and ought to be cultivated. The salmon sometimes attains a weight of forty pounds.

Pike Family. - The larger pike, sometimes called "grass pike," used to be met with, especially in draining off the marshes. The pickerel was also native here, but none are to be found at the present day. Nor have gar pike ("gars") existed here since the advent of mill-dams.

Sucker Family. - To this family belong the buffalo (rare), redhorse (occasional) and the white sucker (also occasional). Black suckers and mullets still thrive in some parts of Indiana, but not here.

Catfish Family. - Fish of this family are still common, but are small, weighing only a pound or two. We can scarcely name the species in English. Perhaps we may say the channel, or mud catfish, the blue and the yellow, the bull-head and one or two other small species are found here. The yellow are the most common.

Minor Sorts. - Besides the above, there are several varieties of chubs, silver sides, and large numbers of other species denominated minnows, which are found in the smallest spring branches as well j as the larger streams.

Of the twenty-three species of SnaJces that have existed in this State, and probably in this county, several of the largest have been about exterminated. Only two of them are venomous, namely, the copperhead and the massassauga. Yery few of these are to be found at the present day. The smaller species are useful animals, like toads, in destroying mice, moles and other vermin, and are preserved by intelligent farmers on this account.

Of Lizards there are very few in this section. Those creatures which resemble them are innocent salamander, and are really as useful as toads in the destruction of flies and other insects. There are eighteen species of these animals in Indiana. The largest attains a length of eight inches, and is black, with large, irregular yellow spots. Another large species is entii-ely yellow; another of a brilliant vermilion haunts cold springs. The second in size is the "mud alligator," or "water dog," a frequent annoyance to fishermen. Still another species has external gills, for respiration in water, thus resembling pollywogs.

Of Frogs there are five species, and of toads five. Four are tree toads. One species of frog is subterranean, excavating its burrows backward with its hind feet, which are shovel formed. It comes to the surface early to breed, after thunder showers in April, in the evening, when it is easily recognized by its loud, discordant notes.