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diff --git a/37210-8.txt b/37210-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2c7363c --- /dev/null +++ b/37210-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5519 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Breeding Birds of Kansas, by Richard F. Johnston + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Breeding Birds of Kansas + +Author: Richard F. Johnston + +Release Date: August 25, 2011 [EBook #37210] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BREEDING BIRDS OF KANSAS *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Tom Cosmas, Joseph Cooper and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS + MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY + + Volume 12, No. 14, Pp. 575-655, 10 figs. + + May 18, 1964 + + + The Breeding Birds of Kansas + + BY + + RICHARD F. JOHNSTON + + + UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS + LAWRENCE + 1964 + + + + + UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY + + Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Henry S. Fitch, + Theodore H. Eaton, Jr. + + + Volume 12, No. 14, Pp. 575-655, 10 figs. + Published May 18, 1964 + + + UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS + Lawrence, Kansas + + + PRINTED BY + HARRY (BUD) TIMBERLAKE, STATE PRINTER + TOPEKA, KANSAS + 1964 + + [Union Label] + + 30-1476 + + + + +The Breeding Birds of Kansas + +BY + +RICHARD F. JOHNSTON + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + INTRODUCTION 577 + + DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN KANSAS 579 + Avian habitats in Kansas 581 + Species reaching distributional limits in Kansas 584 + + BREEDING SEASONS 588 + Introduction 588 + Variation in breeding seasons 589 + Zoogeographic categories 593 + Significance of phylogeny to breeding schedules 595 + Regulation of breeding schedules 598 + + ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES 601 + + ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 652 + + LITERATURE CITED 652 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The breeding avifauna of Kansas has received intermittent attention from +zoologists for about 75 years. Summary statements, usually concerning +all birds of the state, have been published by Goss (1891), Long (1940), +Goodrich (1941), Tordoff (1956) and Johnston (1960). All but the first +dealt with the breeding birds chiefly in passing, and none was concerned +primarily with habitat distributions and temporal characteristics of +Kansan birds. The present work treats mainly certain temporal +relationships of breeding birds in Kansas, but also geographic +distribution, habitat preferences, and zoogeographic relationships to +the extent necessary for a useful discussion of temporal breeding +phenomena. + +Information on breeding of some of the 176 species of birds known to +breed in Kansas is relatively good, on a few is almost non-existent, and +on most is variously incomplete. It is nevertheless possible to make +meaningful statements about many aspects of the breeding biology and +distribution of most species of Kansan birds; we can take stock, as it +were, of available information and assess the outstanding avenues of +profitable future work. In the accounts of species below, the +information given is for the species as it occurs in Kansas, unless it +is otherwise stated. For the various subsections analyzing biology and +distribution, only information taken in Kansas is used, and for this +reason the analyses are made on about half the species breeding in the +state. An enormous amount of observational effort has been expended by +several dozen people in order that suitable data about breeding birds of +Kansas be available; all persons who have contributed in any way are +listed in the section on acknowledgments, following the accounts of +species. + +Kansas has been described topographically, climatically, and otherwise +ecologically many times in the recent past; the reader is referred to +the excellent account by Cockrum (1952), which treats these matters from +the viewpoint of a zoologist. For present purposes it will suffice to +mention the following characteristics of Kansas as a place lived in by +birds. + +Topographically, Kansas is an inclined plane having an elevation of +about 4100 feet in the northwest and about 700 feet in the southeast. +West of approximately 97° W longitude, the topography is gently rolling, +low hills or flat plain; to the east the Flint Hills extend in a nearly +north to south direction, and to the east of these heavily weathered, +grassy hills is a lower-lying but more heavily dissected country, hills +of which show no great differences in elevation from surrounding +flatland. + +The vegetation of eastern Kansas comingles with that of the western edge +of the North American deciduous forest; a mosaic of true forest, +woodland remnants, and tall-grass prairie occupies this area east of the +Flint Hills. From these hills west the prairie grassland today has +riparian woodland along water-courses; the prairie is composed of +proportionally more and more short-grass elements to the west and +tall-grass elements to the east. + +Climate has a dominating influence on the vegetational elements sketched +above. Mean annual rainfall is 20 inches or less in western sectors and +increases to about 40 inches in the extreme eastern border areas. Mean +monthly temperatures run from 25°F. or 30°F. in winter to 80°F. or 90°F. +in summer. The northwestern edges of Caribbean Gulf warm air masses +regularly reach northward only to the vicinity of Doniphan County, in +northeastern Kansas, and extend southwestward into west-central +Oklahoma; these wet frontal systems are usually dissipated along the +line indicated by masses of arctic air, sometimes in spectacular +fashion. The regular recurrence of warm gulf air is responsible for the +characteristically high relative humidity in summer over eastern Kansas +and it has an ameliorating effect on winter climate in this region. +Almost immediately to the north in Nebraska and to the west in the high +plains, summers are dryer and winters are notably more severe. The +breeding distributions of some species of birds fairly closely +approximate the distribution of these warm air masses; these examples +are noted where appropriate below. + + + + +DISTRIBUTION OF BIRDS IN KANSAS + + +Birds breeding in Kansas are taxonomically, ecologically, and +distributionally diverse. Such diversity is to be expected, in view of +the mid-continental position of the State. Characteristics of insularity, +owing to barriers to dispersal and movement, tend to be lacking in the +makeup of the avifauna here. The State is not, of course, uniformly +inhabited by all 176 species (Table 1) of breeding birds; most species +vary in numbers from one place to another, and some are restricted to a +fraction of the State. Variations in numbers and in absolute occurrence +are chiefly a reflection of restriction or absence of certain plant +formations, which is to say habitats; the analysis to follow is thus +organized mainly around an examination of gross habitat-types and the +birds found in them in Kansas. + + + TABLE 1.--THE BREEDING BIRDS OF KANSAS + + + Woodland Species + + _Elanoides forficatus_ N[A] _P. bicolor_ O + _Ictinia misisippiensis_ U _Sitta carolinensis_ O + _Accipiter striatus_ U _Troglodytes aedon_ N + _A. cooperii_ U _Thryomanes bewickii_ N + _Buteo jamaicensis_ O _Thryothorus ludovicianus_ N + _B. lineatus_ N _Mimus polyglottos_ N + _B. platypterus_ N _Dumetella carolinensis_ N + _Aquila chrysaëtos_ O _Toxostoma rufum_ N + _Falco sparverius_ U _Turdus migratorius_ O + _Colinus virginianus_ N _Hylocichla mustelina_ N + _Phasianus colchicus_ O _Sialia sialis_ O + _Meleagris gallopavo_ N _Bombycilla cedrorum_ N + _Philohela minor_ U _Lanius ludovicianus_ O + _Zenaidura macroura_ N _Sturnus vulgaris_ O + _Ectopistes migratorius_ N _Vireo atricapillus_ N + _Conuropsis carolinensis_ U _V. griseus_ N + _Coccyzus americanus_ N _V. bellii_ N + _C. erythropthalmus_ N _V. flavifrons_ N + _Otus asio_ U _V. olivaceus_ N + _Bubo virginianus_ O _V. gilvus_ N + _Strix varia_ U _Mniotilta varia_ N + _Asio otus_ U _Protonotaria citrea_ N + _Aegolius acadicus_ U _Parula americana_ N + _Caprimulgus carolinensis_ N _Dendroica aestiva_ N + _C. vociferus_ U _D. discolor_ N + _Phalaenoptilus nuttallii_ N _Seiurus motacilla_ N + _Chaetura pelagica_ U _Oporornis formosus_ N + _Archilochus colubris_ N _Icteria virens_ N + _Colaptes auratus_ N _Wilsonia citrina_ N + _C. cafer_ N _Setophaga ruticilla_ N + _Dryocopus pileatus_ O _Passer domesticus_ O + _Centurus carolinus_ N _Icterus spurius_ N + _Melanerpes erythrocephalus_ N _I. galbula_ N + _Dendrocopos villosus_ O _I. bullockii_ N + _D. pubescens_ O _Quiscalus quiscula_ N + _Tyrannus tyrannus_ S _Molothrus ater_ N + _T. vociferans_ S _Piranga olivacea_ N + _Muscivora forficata_ S _P. rubra_ N + _Myiarchus crinitus_ S _Richmondena cardinalis_ S + _Sayornis phoebe_ S _Pheucticus melanocephala_ S + _Empidonax virescens_ S _P. ludoviciana_ S + _Contopus virens_ S _Guiraca caerulea_ S + _Iridoprocne bicolor_ N _Passerina ciris_ S + _Progne subis_ N _P. cyanea_ S + _Cyanocitta cristata_ N _P. amoena_ S + _Pica pica_ O _Spinus pinus_ O + _Corvus brachyrhynchos_ O _S. tristis_ O + _C. cryptoleucus_ O _Loxia curvirostra_ O + _Parus atricapillus_ O _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_ N + _P. carolinensis_ O _Chondestes grammacus_ N + _Spizella passerina_ N + + + Limnic Species + + _Podilymbus podiceps_ U _Butorides virescens_ U + _Phalacrocorax auritus_ U _Florida caerulea_ U + _Ardea herodias_ U _Casmerodius albus_ U + _Leucophoyx thula_ U _Porzana carolina_ U + _Nycticorax nycticorax_ U _Laterallus jamaicensis_ U + _Nyctanassa violacea_ U _Gallinula chloropus_ U + _Ixobrychus exilis_ U _Fulica americana_ U + _Botaurus lentiginosis_ U _Charadrius alexandrinus_ U + _Plegadis chihi_ U _Actitis macularia_ U + _Branta canadensis_ U _Steganopus tricolor_ U + _Anas platyrhynchos_ U _Sterna albifrons_ U + _A. acuta_ U _Chlidonias niger_ U + _A. discors_ U _Telmatodytes palustris_ N + _A. clypeata_ U _Cistothorus platensis_ N + _Aix sponsa_ U _Geothlypis trichas_ N + _Aythya americana_ U _Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus_ N + _Oxyura jamaicensis_ U _Agelaius phoeniceus_ N + _Rallus elegans_ U _Rallus limicola_ U + + + Grassland Species Xeric Scrub Species + + _Buteo swainsonii_ N _Callipepla squamata_ N + _B. regalis_ U _Geococcyx californianus_ N + _Circus cyaneus_ O _Salpinctes obsoletus_ N + _Tympanuchus cupido_ N + _T. pallidicinctus_ N + _Pedioecetes phasianellus_ N Unanalyzed Species + _Charadrius vociferus_ U + _Eupoda montana_ U _Cathartes aura_ N + _Numenius americanus_ U _Coragyps atratus_ N + _Bartramia longicauda_ U _Falco peregrinus_ U + _Speotyto cunicularia_ U _Columba livia_ O + _Asio flammeus_ U _Tyto alba_ U + _Sayornis saya_ S _Chordeiles minor_ U + _Eremophila alpestris_ O _Megaceryle alcyon_ U + _Dolichonyx oryzivorus_ N _Riparia riparia_ O + _Sturnella magna_ N _Stelgidopteryx ruficollis_ N + _S. neglecta_ N _Hirundo rustica_ O + _Spiza americana_ N _Petrochelidon pyrrhonota_ U + _Calamospiza melanocorys_ N + _Ammodramus savannarum_ N + _Passerherbulus henslowii_ N + _Aimophila cassinii_ N + _Spizella pusilla_ N + + [A] The letter following each name refers to presumed zoogeographic + derivation of the species, modified after Mayr (1946). + N = North American evolutionary stock; + S = South American stock; + O = Eurasian stock; U = unanalyzed. + + +Avian Habitats in Kansas + +Four major habitat-types can be seen in looking at the distribution of +the breeding avifauna of Kansas. These are woodland, grassland, limnic, +and xeric scrub plant formations. A little more than half the breeding +birds of Kansas live in woodland habitats, about one-fifth in limnic +habitats, about one-eighth in grassland habitats, and less than two per +cent in scrub habitats; this leaves some 6.4 per cent of the breeding +avifauna unanalyzed (Table 2). + + TABLE 2.--ANALYSIS OF THE BREEDING AVIFAUNA OF KANSAS BY + HABITAT-TYPES + + ========================+=============================== + | Percentage of the Avifauna of + +--------+-----------+---------- + HABITAT-TYPE | | North | Stated + | Kansas | America | Habitat + ------------------------+--------+-----------+---------- + Woodland: 101 species | 58 | 16.7 | 44.4 + Limnic: 36 species[B] | 21 | 6.0 | 38.5 + Grassland: 23 species | 13 | 3.8 | 71.3 + Xeric scrub: 3 species | 2 | 0.5 | 10.2 + Unanalyzed: 11 species | 6 | 2.0 | 55.0 + +--------+-----------+---------- + Totals: 174 species | 100 | 29.0 | 43.2 + ------------------------+--------+-----------+---------- + + [B] Does not include the Canvasback (_Aythya valisineria_), + the Forster Tern (_Sterna forsteri_), and the Black Tern + (_Chlidonias niger_), all recently added to the breeding + avifauna of Kansas. + + +_Woodland Habitats_ + +One hundred one species of Kansan birds are woodland species (tables 1 +and 2). The analysis of Udvardy (1958) showed woodland birds to be the +largest single avifaunal element in North America, with 38 per cent of +North American birds relegated to it. It is likewise the largest element +in the Kansan avifauna, representing 58 per cent of Kansan birds. +Although woodland makes up a relatively small fraction of the +vegetational complexes in Kansas, a large number of habitats exist in +what woodland is present. An even larger number of possible woodland +habitats is clearly missing, however, because the 101 Kansan species +actually represent but 44 per cent of all woodland birds in North +America, according to Udvardy's analysis. Broad-leaved, deciduous +woodlands in Kansas are of restricted horizontal and vertical +stratification. More complex deciduous forest associations and all +coniferous forest associations are absent from the State. + +Using Mayr's (1946) breakdown of geographical origin of the North +American bird fauna, about 53 per cent of the woodland passerine birds +in Kansas are of "North American" origin, 22 per cent are of "Eurasian" +origin, and 14 per cent are of "South American" origin (Table 3). These +figures for Kansas are commensurate with those found for other +geographic districts at the same latitude in North America (Mayr, +1946:28). Other characteristics of woodland birds are summarized in +tables 4 and 5. + + TABLE 3.--ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGIC GROUPS OF BIRDS BY STATUS OF + RESIDENCY AND AREA OF ORIGIN + + Column headings: + A: Migrant E: N. Amer. + B: Resident F: S. Amer. + C: Pt. Migr. G: Unanalyzed + D: Old World + + ==========================+=====+=====+=====+=====+======+=====+===== + | A | B | C | D | E | F | G + --------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+-----+----- + Woodland species, 101:58% | 60% | 29% | 11% | 22% | 53% | 14% | 11% + Limnic species, 36:21% | 94% | 0 | 6% | 0 | 14% | 0 | 86% + Grassland species, 23:13% | 61% | 26% | 13% | 9% | 56% | 3% | 30% + Xeric Scrub species, 3:2% | 33% | 66% | 0 | 0 | 100% | 0 | 0 + Unanalyzed species, 11:6% | 64% | 27% | 9% | 26% | 26% | 0 | 48% + --------------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+-----+----- + + +_Limnic Habitats_ + +Of Kansan birds, 36 species (20 per cent) prefer limnic habitats (Table +1). Udvardy found this group to represent 15 per cent of the North +American avifauna. Kansas is not notably satisfactory for limnic +species, and only 38 per cent of the total North American limnic +avifauna is present in the State. + +Thirty-one species of limnic birds belong to families that Mayr (1946) +considered to be unanalyzable as to their geographic origin; of the five +remaining species, all seem to be of North American origin. Other +characteristics of limnic birds are summarized in tables 4 and 5. + + +_Grassland Habitats_ + +Twenty-three species of our total can be called grassland species (Table +1). The subtotal is less than one-fifth of the Kansan avifauna, but it +represents 72 per cent of the grassland birds of North America; +grassland habitats abound in Kansas. Only 5.3 per cent of all North +American birds are grassland species (Udvardy, 1958). + +About 56 per cent of these birds are of North American stocks, nine per +cent of Eurasian stocks, and three per cent of South American stocks. +The percentage of North American species is the greatest for any habitat +group here considered. Other characteristics of grassland birds are +summarized in tables 4 and 5. + + TABLE 4.--ANALYSIS BY HABITAT-TYPE AND RESIDENCY STATUS OF + HISTORIC AVIAN STOCKS IN KANSAS + + Column Headings: + A: Woodland E: Unanal. Hab. + B: Limnic F: Migrant + C: Grassland G: Resident + D: Xeric Scrub H: Partly Migrant + + =======================+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+===== + | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H + -----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- + Old World Element | 80% | 0 | 8% | 0 | 12% | 11% | 78% | 11% + 27:16% | | | | | | | | + North American Element | 69% | 6% | 17% | 4% | 4% | 72% | 14% | 14% + 77:44% | | | | | | | | + South American Element | 93% | 0 | 7% | 0 | 0 | 93% | 7% | 0 + 15:8% | | | | | | | | + Unanalyzed Origin | 22% | 56% | 13% | 0 | 9% | 79% | 16% | 5% + 53:32% | | | | | | | | + -----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- + + +_Xeric-Scrub Habitats_ + +Three species of Kansan birds can be placed in this category (Table 1). +This is less than one per cent of the North American avifauna, two per +cent of the Kansan avifauna, and ten per cent of the birds of xeric +scrub habitats in North America. The three species are considered to be +of North American origin. + + +_Unanalyzed as to Habitat_ + +Eleven species of Kansan birds could not be assigned to any of the +habitat-types mentioned above. The total represents two per cent of the +North American avifauna, six per cent of the birds of Kansas, and 55 per +cent of the species reckoned by Udvardy (_loc. cit._) to be +unanalyzable. Fifty-five per cent is a large fraction, but only to be +expected: species are considered unanalyzable if they show a broad, +indiscriminate use of more than one habitat-type, and such birds tend to +be widely distributed. + + TABLE 5.--ANALYSIS BY ECOLOGIC STATUS AND AREA OF ORIGIN OF + MIGRANT AND RESIDENT BIRDS + + Column headings: + A: Woodland F: Old World + B: Limnic G: North America + C: Grassland H: South America + D: Xeric Scrub I: Unanalyzed + E: Unanal. Hab. + + =================+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+===== + | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I + -----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- + Migrant species | 52% | 29% | 12% | 1% | 6% | 2% | 49% | 12% | 37% + 117:67% | | | | | | | | | + Resident species | 73% | 0 | 15% | 5% | 7% | 51% | 26% | 2% | 21% + 40:23% | | | | | | | | | + Partly migrant | 64% | 11% | 17% | 0 | 6% | 17% | 66% | 0 | 17% + 17:10% | | | | | | | | | + -----------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- + + +Species Reaching Distributional Limits in Kansas + +The distributional limits of a species are useful in indicating certain +of its adaptive capacities and implying maintenance of or shifts in +characteristics of habitats. Although it is generally an +oversimplification to ignore abundance when treating of distribution, +the present remarks of necessity do not pertain to abundance. + + TABLE 6.--BREEDING BIRDS REACHING DISTRIBUTIONAL LIMITS IN KANSAS + + + Species reaching northern distributional limits + + _Florida caerulea_ _Geococcyx californianus_ + _Leucophoyx thula_ _Caprimulgus carolinensis_ + _Coragyps atratus_ _Muscivora forficata_ + _Elanoides forficatus_ _Parus carolinensis_ + _Ictinia misisippiensis_ _Vireo atricapillus_ + _Tympanuchus pallidicinctus_ _Passerina ciris_ + _Callipepla squamata_ _Aimophila cassinii_ + + + Species reaching southern distributional limits + + _Aythya americana_ _Empidonax minimus_ + _Parus atricapillus_ _Steganopus tricolor_ + _Bombycilla cedrorum_ _Chlidonias niger_ + _Dolichonyx oryzivorus_ _Coccyzus erythropthalmus_ + _Pedioecetes phasianellus_ + + + Species reaching eastern distributional limits + + _Eupoda montana_ _Corvus cryptoleucus_ + _Numenius americanus_ _Salpinctes obsoletus_ + _Phalaenoptilus nuttallii_ _Icterus bullockii_ + _Colaptes cafer_ _Pheucticus melanocephalus_ + _Tyrannus verticalis_ _Passerina amoena_ + _Sayornis saya_ + + + Species reaching western distributional limits + + _Aix sponsa_ _Vireo griseus_ + _Buteo platypterus_ _V. flavifrons_ + _Philohela minor_ _Mniotilta varia_ + _Ectopistes migratorius_ _Protonotaria citrea_ + _Conuropsis carolinensis_ _Parula americana_ + _Chaetura pelagica_ _Dendroica discolor_ + _Archilochus colubris_ _Seiurus motacilla_ + _Dryocopus pileatus_ _Oporornis formosus_ + _Centurus carolinus_ _Wilsonia citrina_ + _Myiarchus crinitus_ _Setophaga ruticilla_ + _Empidonax virescens_ _Sturnella magna_ + _E. traillii_ _Piranga olivacea_ + _Parus bicolor_ _Pheucticus ludovicianus_ + _Thryothorus ludovicianus_ _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_ + _Cistothorus platensis_ _Passerherbulus henslowii_ + _Hylocichla mustelina_ + + +_Western Limits Reached in Kansas_ + +Thirty-one species (tables 6 and 7) reach the western limits of their +distribution somewhere in Kansas. Most of these limits are in eastern +Kansas, and coincide with the gradual disappearance of the eastern +deciduous forest formation. Twenty-nine species are woodland birds, and +few of these seem to find satisfactory conditions in the riparian woods +extending out through western Kansas. The Wood Thrush is the one +woodland species that has been found nesting in the west (Decatur +County; Wolfe, 1961). Descriptively, therefore, the dominant reason for +the existence of distributional limits in at least 28 of these birds is +the lack of suitable woodland in western Kansas; these 28 are the +largest single group reaching distributional limits in the State. Many +other eastern woodland birds occur in western Kansas along riparian +woodlands, as is mentioned below. + +Two species showing western limits in Kansas are characteristic of +grassland habitats; the Eastern Meadowlark seems to disappear with +absence of moist or bottomland prairie grassland and the Henslow Sparrow +may be limited westerly by disappearance of tall-grass prairie. + +The Short-billed Marsh Wren, a marginal limnic species, reaches its +southwesterly mid-continental breeding limits in northeastern Kansas. +The species breeds in Kansas in two or three years of each ten, in +summers having unusually high humidity. + + +_Northern Limits Reached in Kansas_ + +Fourteen species (tables 6 and 7) reach their northern distributional +limits in Kansas. Eight of these are birds of woodland habitats, but of +these only the Carolina Chickadee is a species of the eastern deciduous +woodlands; the other seven live in less mesic woodland. Three of these +species (Chuck-will's-Widow, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Painted +Bunting) have breeding ranges that suggest the northwesterly occurrences +of summer humid warm air masses ("gulf fronts") and this environmental +feature perhaps is of major importance for these birds, as it is also +for the vegetational substratum in which the birds live. + +The Lesser Prairie Chicken and the Cassin Sparrow are the two birds of +grasslands that are limited northerly in Kansas. Xeric, sandy grassland +is chiefly limited to the southwestern quarter of Kansas, and this +limitation is perhaps of major significance to these two species. The +Scaled Quail and Roadrunner tend to drop out as the xeric "desert scrub" +conditions of the southwest drop out in Kansas. + + TABLE 7.--ANALYSIS BY HABITAT-TYPE OF BIRDS REACHING + DISTRIBUTIONAL LIMITS IN KANSAS + + ========================+=============================================== + | Habitat-types + DIRECTIONAL +----------+-----------+--------+-------+------- + LIMIT | | | | Xeric | + | Woodland | Grassland | Limnic | Scrub | Total + ------------------------+----------+-----------+--------+-------+------- + Western extent | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 31 + Northern extent | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 14 + Eastern extent | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 + Southern extent | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 9 + +----------+-----------+--------+-------+------- + Totals | 46 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 65 + | | | | | + Per cent of the Species | | | | | + in Stated Habitat | 46 | 43 | 14 | 100 | 37 + ------------------------+----------+-----------+--------+-------+------- + + +_Eastern Limits Reached in Kansas_ + +Eleven species (tables 6 and 7) reach their eastern distributional +limits in Kansas. Six of these are woodland birds. Four of these are +members of well-known species-pairs: the Red-shafted Flicker, Bullock +Oriole, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Lazuli Bunting. Presence to the east +of complementary species has much to do with the absence of these +species in eastern Kansas. Four of the eleven are birds of grasslands, +and they drop out as the short-grass prairie is restricted easterly. + +The Rock Wren may be considered characteristic of xeric scrub in Kansas, +and it is not found to the east in the absence of such scrub. + + +_Southern Limits Reached in Kansas_ + +Eight species (tables 6 and 7) reach their southern distributional +limits in Kansas. Half of these birds are of woodland habitats, and of +these four, the Black-capped Chickadee and Cedar Waxwing are chiefly of +sub-boreal distribution. The Black-capped Chickadee also finds its niche +partly pre-empted in southern Kansas by the Carolina Chickadee. + +The Bobolink and Sharp-tailed Grouse are grassland species that are +seemingly adapted to cooler, dryer grassland than is found in most of +Kansas. + +The Redhead, Wilson Phalarope, and Black Tern are limnic species, +perhaps limited southerly by high summer temperatures; the three species +are entirely marginal anywhere in Kansas. + + TABLE 8.--BIRDS OF THE EASTERN DECIDUOUS FOREST FOUND IN + WESTERN KANSAS IN RIPARIAN WOODLAND + + _Accipiter cooperii_[C] + _Coccyzus americanus_[C] + _Centurus carolinus_ + _Melanerpes erythrocephalus_ + _Tyrannus tyrannus_ + _Myiarchus crinitus_ + _Contopus virens_ + _Sayornis phoebe_ + _Cyanocitta cristata_ + _Dumetella carolinensis_ + _Toxostoma rufum_ + _Sialia sialis_ + _Vireo olivaceus_ + _Icterus spurius_[C] + _Icterus galbula_ + _Quiscula quiscalus_ + _Piranga rubra_[A] + _Passerina cyanea_ + _Richmondena cardinalis_ + _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_[C] + _Spizella passerina_[C] + + [C] Breeds farther west in North America in other types of + vegetation. + + +_Influence of Riparian Woodland_ + +Although the largest single element of the Kansan avifauna that reaches +distributional limits in Kansas is made up of birds of the eastern +deciduous forest, several species of the eastern woodlands are present +in Kansas along the east-west river drainages in riparian woodland; the +species are listed in Table 8. Twenty-one kinds are involved if we +include the Cooper Hawk, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Orchard Oriole, Summer +Tanager, Rufous-sided Towhee, and Chipping Sparrow, all of which breed +farther to the west but are present in western Kansas only along river +drainages. This leaves 15 species of eastern deciduous woodlands that +occur west in Kansas along riparian woodland (_versus_ 30 species that +drop out chiefly where eastern woodland drops out). These 15 species are +about one-third of all woodland birds in western Kansas. Riparian +woodland does not seem to afford first-rate habitat for most of the +eastern woodland species that do occur; breeding density seems to be +much lower than in well-situated eastern woodland. + +The importance of these linear woodlands as avenues for gene-flow +between eastern and western populations, especially of species-pairs +(grosbeaks, flickers, orioles, and buntings), is obviously great. +Likewise significant is the existence of these alleys for dispersal from +the west of certain species (for instance, the Black-billed Magpie and +the Scrub Jay) into new but potentially suitable areas. + + + + +BREEDING SEASONS + + +Introduction + +An examination of breeding seasons or schedules is properly undertaken +at several levels. The fundamental description of variation in breeding +schedules must itself be detailed in several ways and beyond this there +are causal factors needing examination. The material below is a summary +of the information on breeding schedules of birds in Kansas, treated +descriptively and analytically in ways now thought to be of use. + +Almost any event in actual reproductive activity has been used in the +following report; nestbuilding, egg-laying, incubation, brooding of +young, feeding of young out of the nest are considered to be of equal +status. To any such event days are added or subtracted from the date of +observation so as to yield the date when the clutch under consideration +was completed. + +Such corrected dates can be used in making histograms that show the time +of primary breeding activity, or the "egg-season." All such schedules +are generalizations; data are used for a species from any year of +observation, whether 50 years ago or less than one year ago. One +advantage of such procedure is that averages and modes are thus more +nearly representative of the basic temporal adaptations of the species +involved, as is explained below. + +When information on the schedule of a species from one year is lumped +with information from another year or other years, two (and ordinarily +more than two) frequency distributions are used to make one frequency +distribution. The great advantage here is that the frequency +distribution composed of two or more frequency distributions is more +stable than any one of its components. Second, the peak of the season, +the mode of egg-laying, is represented more broadly than it would have +been for any one year alone. Third, the extremes of breeding activity +are fairly shown as of minute frequency and thus of limited importance, +which would not be true if just one year were graphed. All these +considerations combine to support the idea that general schedules in +fact represent the basic temporal adaptations of a species much better +than schedules for one year only. + + +Variation in Breeding Seasons + +In the chronology of breeding seasons of birds, there are three basic +variables: time at which seasons begin, time at which seasons end, and +time in which the major breeding effort occurs. These variables have +been examined in one population through time (Lack, 1947; Snow, 1955; +Johnston, 1956), in several populations of many species over wide +geographic ranges (Baker, 1938; Moreau, 1950; Davis, 1953), and in +several populations of one species (Lack, _loc. cit._; Paynter, 1954; +Johnston, 1954). The analysis below is concerned with breeding of many +kinds of birds of an arbitrarily defined area and with the influence of +certain ecologic and zoogeographic factors on the breeding seasons for +those several species. + +THE INFLUENCE OF SEASONAL STATUS.--Here we are interested in whether a +species is broadly resident or migrant in Kansas; 70 species are +available for analysis. + + +_Resident Species_ + +Twenty-four species, furnishing 875 records of breeding, are here +considered to be resident birds in northeastern Kansas. These species +are Cooper Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Prairie Chicken, Bobwhite, Rock Dove, +Great Horned Owl, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy +Woodpecker, Horned Lark, Blue Jay, Common Crow, Black-billed Magpie, +Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Bewick Wren, +Mockingbird, Eastern Bluebird, Loggerhead Shrike, Starling, House +Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, and Cardinal. The distribution of completed +clutches (Fig. 1) runs from mid-January to mid-September, with a modal +period in the first third of May. Conspicuous breeding activity occurs +from mid-April to the first third of June. + + +_Migrant Species_ + +Forty-six species, furnishing 2,522 records of breeding, are considered +to be migrant in northeastern Kansas. These species are Great Blue +Heron, Green Heron, Swainson Hawk, American Coot, Killdeer, Upland +Plover, American Avocet, Least Tern, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed +Cuckoo, Burrowing Owl, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Red-headed +Woodpecker, Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed +Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood +Pewee, Bank Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Purple Martin, +Brown Thrasher, Catbird, House Wren, Robin, Wood Thrush, Blue-gray +Gnatcatcher, Bell Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow +Warbler, Chat, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard Oriole, +Baltimore Oriole, Common Grackle, Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, +Dickcissel, Lark Sparrow, and Field Sparrow. The distribution of +completed clutches runs from mid-March to the first third of September, +with a modal period of egg-laying in the first third of June (Fig. 1). +Conspicuous breeding activity occurs from the first third of May to the +last third of June. + +THE INFLUENCE OF DOMINANT FORAGING ADAPTATION.--Five categories here +considered reflect broad foraging adaptation: woodland species, taking +invertebrate foods in the breeding season from woody vegetation or the +soil within wooded habitats; grassland species, taking invertebrate +foods in the breeding season from within grassland situations; limnic +species, foraging within marshy or aquatic habitats; aerial species, +foraging on aerial arthropods; raptors, feeding on vertebrates or large +insects. + + +_Raptors_ + +Six species, furnishing 174 records of breeding, are here considered, as +follows: Cooper Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Swainson Hawk, Great Horned Owl, +Burrowing Owl, and Loggerhead Shrike. The distribution of clutches (Fig. +1) runs from mid-January to the first third of July and is bimodal. One +period of egg-laying occurs in mid-February and a second in the last +third of April. Such a distribution indicates that two basically +independent groups of birds are being considered. The first peak of +laying reflects activities of the large raptors, and the second peak is +that of the insectivorous Burrowing Owl and Loggerhead Shrike. The peak +for these two birds is most nearly coincident with that for grassland +species, a category to which the Burrowing Owl might well be relegated. + + [Illustration: FIG. 1.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of ten categories of Kansan birds. Heights of columns + indicate percentage of total of clutches of eggs, and widths + indicate ten-day intervals of time, with the 5th, 15th, and + 25th of each month as medians. The occurrences of monthly means + of temperature and precipitation are indicated at the bottom of + the figure.] + + +_Limnic Species_ + +Six species, the Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, American Coot, American +Avocet, Least Tern and Red-winged Blackbird, furnish 264 records of +breeding. The distribution of clutches (Fig. 1) runs from mid-March to +the last third of July and is bimodal. This is another heterogeneous +assemblage of birds; the Great Blue Heron is responsible for the first +peak, in the first third of April. The other five species, however, show +fair consistency and their peak of egg-laying almost coincides with +peaks for aerial foragers, woodland species, and migrants, considered +elsewhere in this section. + + +_Grassland Species_ + +Ten species, Greater Prairie Chicken, Bobwhite, Killdeer, Upland Plover, +Horned Lark, Starling, Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, Common +Grackle, and Dickcissel, furnish 404 records of breeding activity. The +distribution of clutches (Fig. 1) runs from the first of March to +mid-September. The peak of egg-laying occurs in the first third of May. +This is coincident with the peak for resident species, perhaps a +reflection of the fact that half the species in the present category are +residents in northeastern Kansas. + + +_Woodland Species_ + +In this category are included species characteristic of woodland edge. +Thirty-four species, furnishing 1,882 records of breeding, are here +treated: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Black-billed Cuckoo, "flicker" (includes +birds thought to be relatively pure red-shafted, pure yellow-shafted, as +well as clear hybrids), Red-bellied Woodpecker, Red-headed Woodpecker, +Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Black-billed Magpie, +Common Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, +Bewick Wren, House Wren, Brown Thrasher, Catbird, Mockingbird, Robin, +Wood Thrush, Eastern Bluebird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bell Vireo, +Warbling Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chat, Orchard +Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Cardinal, Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo +Bunting, Lark Sparrow, and Field Sparrow. The distribution of clutches +runs from the first third of March to mid-September (Fig. 1). The modal +period for completed clutches is the first third of June. Conspicuous +breeding activity occurs from the first third of May to mid-June. The +distribution of the season in time is almost identical with that for +migrant species, reflecting the large number of migrant species in +woodland habitats in Kansas. + + +_Aerial Foragers_ + +Twelve species, Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, Eastern Kingbird, +Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, +Eastern Phoebe, Eastern Wood Pewee, Bank Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, +Barn Swallow, and Purple Martin, furnish 587 records of breeding. The +distribution of clutches (Fig. 1) extends from the last third of March +to the first third of August, and the modal date of clutches is in the +first third of June. Conspicuous breeding activity occurs from the end +of May to the end of June. The peak of nesting essentially coincides +with that characteristic of migrants. + + +Zoogeographic Categories + +Three categories of Mayr (1946) are of use in analyzing trends in +breeding schedules of birds in Kansas. These categories of presumed +ultimate evolutionary origin are the "Old World Element," the "North +American Element," and the "South American Element." Not always have I +agreed with Mayr's assignments of species to these categories, and such +differences are noted. There is some obvious overlap between these +categories and those discussed previously. + + +_Old World Element_ + +Eighteen species, Red-tailed Hawk, Rock Dove, Great Horned Owl, Hairy +Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Black-billed Magpie, Common Crow, +Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Robin, Loggerhead Shrike, +Starling, House Sparrow, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, and Blue-gray +Gnatcatcher, furnish 969 records of breeding (Fig. 1). Species for which +I have records but which are not here listed are the Blue Jay and the +Wood Thrush, both of which I consider to be better placed with the North +American Element. The distribution of completed clutches runs from +mid-January to the first third of August, and shows a tendency toward +bimodality. The second, smaller peak is due to the inclusion of +relatively large samples of three migrant species (Robin, Bank Swallow, +and Barn Swallow). The timing of the breeding seasons of these three +species is in every respect like that of most other migrants; if they +are removed from the present sample the bimodality disappears, +indicating an increase in homogeneity of the unit. + + +_North American Element_ + +Twenty-six species, Greater Prairie Chicken, Bobwhite, "flicker," +Rough-winged Swallow, Purple Martin, Blue Jay, Carolina Wren, Bewick +Wren, House Wren, Mockingbird, Catbird, Brown Thrasher, Wood Thrush, +Bell Vireo, Warbling Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Chat, +Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird, Orchard +Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Common Grackle, Lark Sparrow, and Field +Sparrow, furnish 1,233 records of breeding (Fig. 1). The distribution of +completed clutches runs from the first third of April to the first third +of September. The modal date for completion of clutches is June 1. + + +_South American Element_ + +Twelve species, Eastern Kingbird, Western Kingbird, Scissor-tailed +Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Traill +Flycatcher, Eastern Wood Pewee, Eastern Phoebe, Cardinal, Black-headed +Grosbeak, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting, furnish 552 +records of breeding (Fig. 1). The curve representing this summary +schedule is bimodal, wholly as a result of including the Eastern Phoebe +and the Cardinal with this sample. + + +_Relationship of Schedules to Temperature and Precipitation_ + +In outlining the ten categories above, attention has been given to +certain similarities and differences in the frequency distributions. A +slightly more refined way of comparing the frequency distributions is to +relate them to other, seasonally variable phenomena. Figure 1 shows the +frequency distributions of egg-laying of these ten categories of birds +in terms of the regular changes in mean temperature and mean +precipitation characteristic of the environments in which these birds +live in the breeding season. + +Table 9 shows that there are two basic groups of birds according to peak +of egg-laying and incidence of precipitation; raptors, birds of Eurasian +origin, resident birds, and birds of grassland habitats tend to have +their peaks of egg-laying prior to the peak of spring-summer rains, and +the other six categories tend to have their peaks of egg-laying occur in +the time of spring-summer rains. Regarding temperature, there are four +categories of birds; these are evident in the table. + +Some of the correspondences deserve comment. Residents and grassland +species both breed before the rains come and before mean temperatures +reach 70°F., and this correspondence probably results from most of the +grassland species being residents. Contrariwise, most birds of Eurasian +stocks are residents, but not all residents are of such stocks; the two +groups are discrete when mean temperature at breeding is considered. +Woodland birds, aerial foragers, and birds of South American +evolutionary stocks breed after temperatures surpass 70°F. on the +average. Almost all such species are migrants, but many migrants have +different temporal characteristics, and the categories thus are shown to +be discrete on the basis of temperature at time of breeding. + +The change through spring and summer of temperature and precipitation +delineates the inception and waxing of the growing season of vegetation +and of the subsequent arthropod populations, on which most of the birds +feed in the breeding season. The temporal characteristics of growing +seasons in North America have been treated by Hopkins (1938) and have +been related to timing of breeding seasons in Song Sparrows (_Passerella +melodia_) of the Pacific coast of North America (Johnston, 1954). + + +Significance of Phylogeny to Breeding Schedules + +Evidence from a variety of sources demonstrates that timing of breeding +seasons is either broadly or specifically genetically-determined. For +some species in some situations major environmental variables are +paramount in regulating timing of breeding, but in others the innate, +regulatory "clock" is less closely tied to conspicuous exogenous +stimuli. The work by Miller (1955a, 1955b, 1960) with several species of +_Zonotrichia_ strongly indicates that endogenous timing is most +important for these birds, and there is ecological evidence for Song +Sparrows that supports the same point (Johnston, 1954, 1956). It is, in +any event, possible to treat breeding schedules as species-specific +characters, for any one geographic area. + +In an attempt to relate a breeding schedule to previous ancestral modes, +that is by extension to phylogeny, it is necessary to know how often +ancestral adaptations can persist in the face of necessity to adapt to +present environmental conditions. It is necessary to know how +conservative or how immediately plastic breeding schedules can be. The +disadvantage of using available information about configurations of +breeding seasons (as shown in Figs. 3 to 9) is that it is extremely +difficult to compare visually at one time more than six or eight +histograms as to the trenchant similarities and differences regarding +times of inception and cessation of breeding, and time of peak +egg-laying. It is possible, however, to reduce these three variables to +one variable (as described below), which allows the necessary +comparisons to be made more easily; this variable may be called the +_breeding index_. + + +_Calculation of Breeding Index_ + +The chronological year is broken roughly into ten-day intervals numbered +1 to 36. The histogram describing the temporal occurrence of the +breeding season of a species in our area usually will lie within +intervals 7 to 25. The modal date for completion of clutches is given a +value corresponding to the number of ten-day intervals beyond interval +7 (March 1-10); this describes the modal variable. The date of +completion of 83 per cent of all clutches is given a value corresponding +to the number of ten-day intervals it lies from interval 11 (April +11-20); this describes the 83 per cent variable (and is a measure of the +length of the season in terms of its inception). The breeding index can +then be calculated as follows: + + I = X_{m} + X_{sd}, + + where: I is the breeding index, + X_{m} is the modal variable, and + X_{sd} is the 83 per cent variable. + +This is obviously an arbitrary scheme to gain a simple measure of +beginning, peak, and end of a breeding season. Other schemes could be +devised whereby different absolute values would be involved, but the +relative nature of the results would be preserved. The values under the +present system for 73 species of Kansan birds run from -5 to +22; early +modal dates and cessation to breeding give low values, late dates high +values. + +Within this framework there are other, presumably subordinate, factors +that influence the values of breeding indices, as follows: + +1. Migratory habit. Any migrant tends to arrive on breeding grounds +relatively late, hence migrants ordinarily have higher index values than +do residents. + +2. Colonial breeding. The strong synchrony of colonially-breeding +species tends to move the modal egg-date toward the time of inception of +breeding; as a result colonially-breeding species probably have lower +index values than they would have if not colonial. + +3. Single-broodedness. Species having only one brood per season tend to +have shorter seasons than double-brooded species, and their index values +tend to be lower than those of double-brooded species. + +Migratory habit unquestionably has considerable influence on index +values in some species. It is not, however, as important as other +matters, such as the condition of the food substratum or sensitivity of +the pituitary-gonadal mechanism, in determining timing and mode of +breeding activity. The schedule of the Purple Martin is the extreme +example showing that time of spring arrival on breeding grounds is not +necessarily related to time of inception of breeding. It should be +emphasized that the factors leading to northward migratory movement may +be involved in timing of the annual gonadal and reproductive cycle. + +Figure 2 presents a graphic summary of values of breeding indices for +many groups of Kansan birds. The values for species of a given family +have been linked by a horizontal line. The length of this line is +proportional to the degree to which the index values for the species +concerned resemble one another. Note that the plottings for the Picidae, +Corvidae, Turdidae, Tyrannidae, and Icteridae each contain one point +that is well-removed from a cluster of points. This can be interpreted +as a measure of the frequency of adaptive plasticity versus adaptive +conservatism; five of the 24 plottings show a plastic character, 19 a +conservative. There are 26 plottings that show temporal consistency, all +of which may be taken as evidence of adaptive (or relictual) +conservatism of the species in question. + + [Illustration: FIG. 2.--Breeding indices for Kansan birds. + Vertical hash-marks indicate the value of breeding index for a + given species; horizontal lines show the range of values of + breeding index for families and orders.] + + +_Conclusion_ + +Such patterns of breeding chronology support the idea that seasonal +response to the necessities of breeding is conservative more often than +plastic. Most students of breeding schedules believe that since these +are highly adaptive, they must also be capable of flexibility to meet +variable environments within the range of the species. Such thinking +receives support when different geographic localities are considered for +one species (Johnston, 1954), or when specific features of a special +environment are considered (see Miller, 1960; Johnston, 1956). + +Yet, if one, relatively restricted locality is considered, as in the +present study, evidence of a conservative characteristic in breeding +schedules can be detected. This conservatism may result from the +historic genetic "burden" of the species; that is to say, previous +adaptive peaks may in part be evident in the matrix of contemporary +adaptation. Adaptive relicts of morphological nature have been many +times documented, but characteristics associated with seasonality and +timing schedules have not. + +In any event, genetic relationships are evident in the configuration of +breeding seasons of many species here treated. Thus, any consideration +of variation in breeding schedules must be sensitive to the limits, +whether broad or restricting, that the heritage of a species sets on its +present chronological adaptation. + + +Regulation of Breeding Schedules + +Regulation of breeding schedules in birds always involves some +exogenous, environmental timing or triggering mechanism. Broad +limits to functional reproductive activity seem to be set by the +photoperiod--neuroendocrine system. This basic, predominately +extra-equatorial, regulator can be ignored by temperate-zone species +only if they possess chronological adaptation to special, aperiodic +environmental conditions, as does the Red Crossbill (_Loxia +curvirostra_; see McCabe and McCabe, 1933; H. B. Tordoff, ms.), for +which the chief consideration seems to be availability of conifer +seeds. Environmental phonomena otherwise known to trigger breeding +activity include rainfall (Davis, 1953; Williamson, 1956), presence of +suitable nesting material (Marshall and Disney, 1957; Lehrman, 1958), +temperature (Nice, 1937), and presence of a mate (Lehrman, Brody, and +Wortis, 1961). Such regulators, or environmental oscillators, are the +"phasing factors" of the physiologic clock that dictate the temporal +occurrence of primary reproductive activity. + + TABLE 9.--RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS AND TIMING + OF BREEDING IN BIRDS OF KANSAS + + ==================+=================================================== + | Occurrence of Peak of Egg-laying + +-------------------+------------------------------- + | When | When Mean + | Precipitation is: | Temperature (F.) is: + +---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+------- + | Light | Heavy | < 55° | < 70° | ± 70° | > 70° + ------------------+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+------- + Raptors | x | | x | | | + O. W. Element | x | | x | | | + Residents | x | | | x | | + Grassland species | x | | | x | | + Marshland species | | x | | | x | + N. Amer. Element | | x | | | x | + Migrants | | x | | | x | + Woodland species | | x | | | | x + Aerial foragers | | x | | | | x + S. Amer. Element | | x | | | | x + ------------------+---------+---------+-------+-------+-------+------- + +None of the regulators mentioned above has been specifically +investigated for any Kansan bird, but it is reasonable to suppose that, +in these temperate-zone species, the photoperiod is the most important +general phasing factor in seasonal breeding. Although gonadal response +and seasonal restriction of breeding are set by the photoperiod, +specific temporal relationships are dictated by more immediate +environmental variables. + +Table 9, as already noted, shows the gross relationships between certain +groups of birds, certain arbitrary indicators of seasonal +temperature-humidity conditions bearing significantly on the growing +season, and occurrence in time of peak of egg-laying by the birds +involved. Some species and groups of Kansan birds breed chiefly under +cool-dry environmental conditions, and some under warm-wet environmental +conditions. Within each of these categories some variation occurs. Thus, +raptors and boreally-adapted species (the Eurasian zoogeographic +element) breed under cool conditions prior to rains, and residents and +grassland species breed under slightly warmer conditions prior to rains; +limnic species, species derived from North American evolutionary stocks, +and migrants tend to breed in the cooler segment of the warm-wet period, +and woodland birds, aerial foragers, and species derived from South +American evolutionary stocks tend to breed in the warmer segment of the +warm-wet period. + +So much, then, for relationships between birds and their environments at +a descriptive level. It would be useful at this point to examine how +environmental variables relate to timing of breeding. Certain +independent lines of investigation indicate that birds have a +well-developed internal timing device; most convincing is the work of +Schmidt-Koenig (1960) and the others who have shown that the endogenous +clock of birds can be shifted in its periodicity forward or backward in +time. This and much other evidence (see Brown, 1960) indicate that many +fundamental periodic regulators are extrinsic to the animal; it is thus +permissible for present purposes to consider any expression of variation +in timing as dependent on environmental oscillators. It is not hereby +meant to ignore the fact that differential responses to dominant +environmental variables occur within a species, indicating endogenous +control over timing of breeding. The work by Miller (1960:518) with +three populations of the White-crowned Sparrow, revealing innately +different responses to vernal photoperiodic increase, is especially +important in this regard. For the moment, however, we may consider +exogenous controls only. + +Any exogenous control, or environmental variable, can be looked on +simply as a timing oscillator. Such variables show regular or irregular +periodic activity, and the independent actions as a whole result in the +more-or-less variable annual schedule of breeding for any species at any +one place. It would seem that some oscillators are linked to one +another, but there is a real question concerning the over-all degree to +which linkage is present. It is significant that frequency distributions +of breeding activity of various species and groups of birds take on the +shape of a skewed normal curve. The more information is added to such +distributions, the more nearly they approach being wholly normal, with +irregularities tending to disappear. This kind of response itself is +evidence that most of the variables influencing the distribution are not +mutually linked. + +This conclusion is warranted if we examine what would happen to +frequency distributions if the variables or oscillators regulating +timing were linked. The frequency distribution of breeding activity in +birds is described by a nonlinear curve (a normal distribution is +nonlinear). Let us assume that each of the environmental variables is a +nonlinear oscillator, as is probable. A set of nonlinear oscillators +mutually entrained or coupled and operating with reference to a given +phenomenon would result in that phenomenon being described by a +frequency distribution much more stable than if it were regulated by any +one oscillator alone. However, the frequency distribution of a set of +coupled nonlinear oscillators is non-normal (Wiener, 1958). + +We do not obtain such distributions in describing breeding activity, so +we may say that the oscillators regulating such activity are not +coupled. Present distribution, habitat preference, residency status, +foraging adaptation, previous zoogeographic history, and relicts of +ancestral adaptation, all bear on the character of the breeding schedule +of any bird species. The emphasis above on multiple regulation of +breeding schedules conceivably reflects the true picture, but any such +emphasis is made at the expense of taking one factor as basic, or +reducing the many to one, in order to manufacture simplicity. + + + + +ACCOUNTS OF SPECIES + + +In each account below information is given concerning status, habitat, +geographic distribution, seasonal occurrence, schedule of egg-laying, +number of eggs laid, and sites of nests, as these pertain to Kansas, +unless otherwise stated. The ways in which some of these points were +elucidated are as follows. + +1.--Breeding schedule. Frequency distributions of egg-laying in time are +calculated on the basis of dates of completed clutches, as described +earlier (p. 588). Any event in the series of actions of +nesting--nestbuilding, egg-laying, incubation, brooding, feeding young +out of nests--can be manipulated by adding or subtracting days to or +from the date of record to yield the probable date of completion of the +clutch. The resulting data are grouped into class intervals of ten days. +Extreme dates here given for egg-laying may be as much as nine days off +in accuracy, but the error does not often exceed five days. Extreme +dates indicated here may be taken as actual or predicted extremes. The +raw data used are on file at the Museum of Natural History and are +available for use by any qualified individual. + +2.--Dates of occurrence. First and last annual occurrences in the State +for migrant species are indicated by both a range of dates and a median +date. Twenty to 30 dates of first observation in spring are available +for most of the common species, and 10 to 20 dates of last observation +in autumn are at hand for such species. The median dates, earlier than +and subsequent to which an equal number of observations are available, +are reliable indicators of the dates on which a species is likely to be +seen first in the State in an average year. + +3.--Clutch-size. Information on number of eggs is given for each species +according to the mode, followed by the mean, the range, and the size of +the sample. + +4.--Distribution in Kansas. Information on distribution in the breeding +season within the borders of Kansas is given in accounts below chiefly +by reference to one or more counties of the State. Location of counties +can be made by referring to Figure 10. + + +=Pied-billed Grebe=: _Podilymbus podiceps podiceps_ (Linnaeus).--This is +a common but local summer resident, in and on ponds, marshes, streams, +ditches, and lakes. The species can be seen in the State at any time, +but usually arrives in the period March 1 to April 13 (the median is +March 21), and departs southward in the period October 13 to November 18 +(the median is October 24). + +_Breeding schedule._--Nineteen records of breeding span the period May 1 +to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is May 15. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 to 10 eggs. + +Nests are floating masses of marsh vegetation (cattail, smartweed, +duckweed, filamentous green algae, and the like), kept green on top by +addition of fresh material, in or at the edge of emergent marsh +vegetation. + + +=Double-crested Cormorant=: _Phalacrocorax auritus auritus_ +(Lesson).--This is a transient, but has been found nesting on one +occasion in Barton County (Tordoff, 1956:311). + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs were laid in July and August in the one known +nesting effort. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + + +=Great Blue Heron=: _Ardea herodias_ Linnaeus.--This common summer +resident nests in tall trees along rivers, streams, and marshes. The +sector of greatest abundance is the Flint Hills. _A. h. herodias_ +Linnaeus occurs in extreme northeastern Kansas, _A. h. wardi_ Ridgway +breeds in southeastern Kansas, and _A. h. treganzai_ Court breeds in +western Kansas; specimens showing intermediate morphology have been +taken from the central part of the State. Occurrence in time, exclusive +of the few that overwinter in Kansas, is shown in Table 10. + +_Breeding schedule._--Seventy-seven records of breeding span the period +March 1 to April 30 (Fig. 3); the modal date of egg-laying is April 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.4, 3-6; 36). + +Nests are placed in crotches of sycamore, cottonwood, elm, hackberry, +oak, and walnut, from 30 to 60 feet high; the average height is about 40 +feet. + + TABLE 10.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT HERONS IN KANSAS + + ================+==========================+============================= + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + ----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + Great Blue Heron| Feb. 4-Apr. 8 | Mar. 20 | Oct. 10-Nov. 29 | Oct. 23 + Green Heron | Mar. 29-May 4 | Apr. 27 | Sept. 1-Oct. 30 | Sept. 9 + Common Egret | Apr. 8-May 12 | Apr. 2 | Sept. 4-Sept. 30 | Sept. 21 + Black-crowned | | | | + Night Heron | Mar. 27-May 18 | Apr. 25 | Sept. 10-Nov. 11 | Sept. 25 + Yellow-crowned | | | | + Night Heron | Apr. 15-May 18 | Apr. 27 | | + American Bittern| Apr. 4-May 9 | May 1 | Oct. 6-Dec. 12 | Oct. 16 + Least Bittern | Apr. 9-May 22 | Apr. 8 | Oct. 24 | + ----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + + +=Green Heron=: _Butorides virescens virescens_ (Linnaeus).--This is a +common summer resident about streams, lakes, and marshes throughout the +State. Some characteristics of the temporal occurrence of this species +are indicated in Table 10. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-eight records of breeding span the period +April 21 to June 20 (Fig. 3); the modal date of completion of clutches +is May 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 3-5; 17). + +Nests are placed about 10 feet high (two to 35 feet) in willow, +cottonwood, elm, and the like. + + +=Little Blue Heron=: _Florida caerulea caerulea_ (Linnaeus).--This is +chiefly a postbreeding summer visitant, but there is one record of +breeding in Finney County (Tordoff, 1956:312). + +_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on breeding schedule in +Kansas or in adjacent areas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed in trees and bushes at various heights above the +ground. + + +=Common Egret=: _Casmerodius albus egretta_ (Gmelin).--This is a +postbreeding summer visitant, but has been found nesting once in Cowley +County (Johnston, 1960:10). Occurrence in time is listed in Table 10. + +_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on breeding schedule in +Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed in trees, usually above 20 feet in height; the one +instance of nesting in the State was within a colony of Great Blue +Herons. + + +=Snowy Egret=: _Leucophoyx thula thula_ (Molina).--This postbreeding +summer visitant has been found nesting once in Finney County (Tordoff, +1956:312). + +_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on breeding schedule in +the State. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 5 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests in Kansas are placed among those of Great Blue Herons. + + +=Black-crowned Night Heron=: _Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli_ +(Gmelin).--This is a locally common summer resident around marshes and +riparian habitats. Characteristics of the occurrence of the species in +time are given in Table 10. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in the period May 1 to August 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed at medium elevations in riparian trees, in Kansas +chiefly cottonwood, or in beds of emergent marsh vegetation. + + +=Yellow-crowned Night Heron=: _Nyctanassa violacea violacea_ +(Linnaeus).--This is a local summer resident in riparian habitats, +chiefly in southeastern Kansas. Specimens taken in the breeding season +and records of nesting come from Meade, Stafford, Doniphan, Douglas, +Greenwood, Woodson, Labette, and Cherokee counties. Characteristics of +occurrence in time in Kansas are shown in Table 10. _Breeding +schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed in riparian trees. + + +=Least Bittern=: _Ixobrychus exilis exilis_ (Gmelin).--This is a local +summer resident in marshland. Characteristics of its occurrence in time +are indicated in Table 10. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period May 21 +to July 20; the modal date of egg-laying seems to be in the first week +of June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed in dense emergent vegetation a few inches to a foot +above the surface of the water. + + +=American Bittern=: _Botaurus lentiginosus_ (Rackett).--This is a local +summer resident in marshes and heavy grassland. The species occurs +temporally according to characteristics as listed in Table 10. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and probably in June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the ground in heavy cover. + + +=White-faced Ibis=: _Plegadis chihi_ (Vieillot).--This is a local summer +resident in marshland; actual records of breeding come only from Barton +County (Nossaman, 1952:7; Zuvanich, 1963; M. Schwilling, personal +communication, July, 1962). The species has been recorded in the State +from April 17 to October 6. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-five breeding records are for June and +early July. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (3.9, 3-4; 24). + +Nests are placed in emergent marsh vegetation near the surface of the +water, in Barton County in extensive cattail beds harboring also +Black-crowned Night Herons. + + +=Mallard=: _Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos_ Linnaeus.--This is a local +summer resident around marshes. The time of greatest abundance is +October to April, but most birds move north for breeding. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records of breeding span the period April +1 to June 10; the modal date of egg-laying is in the first ten days of +May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size varies widely; first clutches are of +about 12 eggs. Brood sizes vary from 3 to 12 individuals in Kansas. + +Nests are placed on the ground surface, in pasture grasses, marsh +grasses, cattail, sedge, and smartweed. + + +=Pintail=: _Anas acuta_ Linnaeus.--This is a local summer resident in +marshland. The time of greatest abundance is from September to May, but +most birds move north for breeding. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period April +21 to June 10; the peak of egg-laying seems to be in the period May 1 +to 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 10 eggs. Brood sizes vary +from 3 to 8 individuals in Kansas. + +Nests are placed on the ground surface, in cover of marsh grass, +cattail, or sedge. + + +=Blue-winged Teal=: _Anas discors discors_ Linnaeus.--This summer +resident is locally common around marshes and ponds. The species arrives +in spring in the period March 9 to April 5 (the median is March 23); +birds are last seen sometime between October 7 and November 26 (the +median is October 20). + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period May +1 to May 30; the peak of egg-laying is around May 15. It is doubtful +that the present data indicate the full extent of the egg-season in this +duck. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 8 to 12 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the ground surface, in cover of grasses, cattail and +sedges. + + +=Shoveler=: _Anas clypeata_ Linnaeus.--This is an irregular and local +summer resident, around marshes. Most individuals seen in the State are +passage migrants. Breeding records are from Barton and Finney counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Seasonal limits are unknown for the Shoveler in +Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 8 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed on the ground surface in cover of marsh vegetation. + + +=Wood Duck=: _Aix sponsa_ (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer +resident around wooded streams and ponds in eastern Kansas. Nesting +records and specimens taken in the breeding season come from east of +stations in Pottawatomie, Coffey, and Woodson counties. Most nesting +records at present come from the Marais des Cygnes Wildlife Refuge, Linn +County. The species is present in the State from March 5 to December 8. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period March +21 to May 10; the peak of egg-laying is probably in mid-April. The +present data are inadequate for showing the full span of the breeding +season. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 15 eggs, varying from 10 to 23 +in the sample at hand. + +Nests are placed in crevices and hollows in trees near water, 10 to 70 +feet high. + + +=Redhead=: _Aythya americana_ (Eyton).--This duck nested at Cheyenne +Bottoms, Barton County, 1962: 9 eggs found May 31 (M. Schwilling); also +reported to have nested at Cheyenne Bottoms about 1928 (Tordoff, +1956:316). + + +=Canvasback=: _Aythya valisineria_ (Wilson).--This duck nested at +Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County, 1962: 14 eggs found June 20 (M. +Schwilling). + + +=Ruddy Duck=: _Oxyura jamaicensis rubida_ (Wilson).--This is a local +summer resident in marshland; numbers seem generally higher in western +than in eastern Kansas. The season of greatest abundance is March +through November, but numbers are conspicuously reduced in midsummer. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are known to be laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 10 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed near the edge of water, either in or on emergent marsh +vegetation; nests of other marshland birds, such as coots, are sometimes +appropriated (Davie, 1898). + + +=Turkey Vulture=: _Cathartes aura teter_ Friedmann.--This summer +resident is common throughout Kansas. Occurrence in time is indicated +in Table 11. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records of breeding span the period +April 21 to June 10; earlier records will doubtless be found, to +judge from the frequency distribution of the present sample. The peak +of egg-laying is perhaps around May 1. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (1.8, 1-2; 12). + +Nests are placed in holes and crevices in trees and cliffs, on rocky +ledges, and the like. + + [Illustration: FIG. 3.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of two herons, the Red-tailed Hawk, Bobwhite, and two + shore birds in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for explanation + of histograms.] + + +=Black Vulture=: _Coragyps atratus_ (Meyer).--This is possibly a +summer resident in the southeastern sector of Kansas. There is one +nesting record, for Labette County (Goss, 1891:245). + +_Breeding schedule._--There are no data for this species in Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed in hollows (logs, stumps, _etc._) on the ground +surface. + + +=Swallow-tailed Kite=: _Elanoides forficatus forficatus_ +(Linnaeus).--This kite was formerly a summer resident in eastern +Kansas; it no longer occurs as a breeding species. + +_Breeding schedule._--In Kansas the season seemed to occur relatively +late in the year for a raptor; eggs were laid in May, so far as is +known. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 2 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed in tops of trees. + + +=Mississippi Kite=: _Ictinia misisippiensis_ (Wilson).--This is a +common summer resident in southern Kansas, west to Morton County. +Specimens taken in the breeding season and records of nesting come +from south of stations in Grant, Barton, Harvey, and Douglas counties; +the present center of abundance is in Meade, Clark, Comanche, Barber, +and Harper counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding span the period April +20 to June 10; the peak of egg-laying seems to be in the first week of +May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs. + +Nests are placed about 35 feet high (from 25 to 50 feet) in +cottonwood, willow, elm, black locust, and the like. + + +=Sharp-shinned Hawk=: _Accipiter striatus velox_ (Wilson).--This rare +summer resident apparently occurs only in the eastern part. The two +nesting records are from Cloud and Pottawatomie counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--The information at hand suggests the birds lay +in April and May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed 20 or more feet high in coniferous or deciduous +trees. + + +=Cooper Hawk=: _Accipiter cooperii_ (Bonaparte).--This is an uncommon +resident. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of +nesting come from east of stations in Cloud, Anderson, and Montgomery +counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period +March 21 to May 30; the modal date of egg-laying is April 25. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.8, 2-5; 5). + +Nests are placed from 15 to 30 feet high, averaging 25 feet in elm, +oak, and other trees. + + +=Red-tailed Hawk=: _Buteo jamaicensis borealis_ (Gmelin).--This is a +common resident east of the 100th meridian; to the west numbers are +reduced, although the species is by no means unusual in western Kansas. +Red-tails probably always were uncommon in western Kansas; Wolfe (1961) +reports that they were "very rare as a nesting species" in Decatur +County shortly after the turn of the 20th Century. _Breeding +schedule._--Thirty-six records of breeding span the period February 21 +to April 10 (Fig. 3); the modal date of egg-laying is March 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (2.6, 2-3; 20). + +Nests are placed about 40 feet high, ranging from 15 to 70 feet in +cottonwood, honey locust, osage orange, sycamore, and walnut. + + +=Red-shouldered Hawk=: _Buteo lineatus lineatus_ (Gmelin).--This is an +uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in riparian and bottomland +timber. Nesting records are available from Leavenworth, Woodson, and +Linn counties, and red-shoulders probably also nest in Doniphan County +(Linsdale, 1928). + +_Breeding season._--Eggs are laid in March and April. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed up to 70 feet high in elms and other streamside trees. + + TABLE 11.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF THE SUMMER RESIDENT VULTURE + AND HAWKS IN KANSAS + + ===============+===========================+============================ + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + Turkey Vulture | Mar. 7-Mar. 30 | Mar. 15 | Sept. 24-Oct. 28 | Oct. 5 + Red-shouldered | | | | + Hawk | Feb. 10-Mar. 14 | Feb. 26 | Oct.-Dec. | + Broad-winged | | | | + Hawk | Apr. 4-Apr. 21 | Apr. 12 | Sept. 1-Oct. 20 | + Swainson Hawk | Mar. 24-Apr. 28 | Apr. 12 | Oct. 5-Nov. 2 | Oct. 11 + ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + + +=Broad-winged Hawk=: _Buteo platypterus platypterus_ (Vieillot).--This +is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in swampy woodland. +Specimens taken in the breeding season and nesting records are from +Shawnee, Douglas, Leavenworth, and Johnson counties; there are several +nesting records from Missouri in the bottomlands just across the river +from Wyandotte County Kansas. Occurrence in time is listed in Table +11. + +_Breeding schedule._--Four records of nesting span the period April 21 +to May 30, but it is likely that the egg-season is longer than this. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs. + +Nests are placed high in deciduous trees. + + +=Swainson Hawk=: _Buteo swainsoni_ Bonaparte.--This is a common summer +resident in prairie grassland with open groves and scattered trees. +Records of breeding are available from all parts of the State, but are +least numerous from the southeastern quarter. Occurrence in time is +listed in Table 11. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period +April 11 to June 10; the modal date for completion of clutches is +April 25. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (2.4, 2-3; 5). + +Nests are placed about 35 feet high, actually ranging from 12 to 75 +feet, in cottonwood, elm, willow, and honey locust. Occasionally nests +are placed on ledges in cliffs. + + +=Ferruginous Hawk=: _Buteo regalis_ (Gray).--This is an uncommon +resident in western Kansas, in grassland with scattered trees. Records +of nesting and specimens taken in the breeding season come from Wallace, +Hamilton, Gove, Logan, and Finney counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Five records of breeding span the period March +11 to April 30. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs (3.3, 3-4; 4). + +Nests are placed on the ground surface on small cliffs or promontories +or low (six to 10 feet) in small trees such as osage orange, +cottonwood, and mulberry. + + +=Marsh Hawk=: _Circus cyaneus hudsonius_ (Linnaeus).--This is a local +resident in grassland throughout Kansas. Most records of breeding come +from east of the Flint Hills, but it is not certain that the few +records from the west actually reflect a low density of Marsh Hawks in +that area. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period +April 11 to May 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 3-7; 14). + +Nests are placed on the ground surface in grassy cover. + + +=Peregrine Falcon=: _Falco peregrinus anatum_ Bonaparte.--This falcon +nested, perhaps regularly but clearly in small numbers, in Kansas +prior to the 20th Century. The best documented breeding occurrence was +at Neosho Falls, Woodson County (Goss, 1891:283). + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs were recorded as being laid in February and +March. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed relatively high on cliffs and in trees; at Neosho +Falls these birds used open cavities 50 to 60 feet high in sycamores. + + +=Sparrow Hawk=: _Falco sparverius sparverius_ Linnaeus.--This is a +common resident throughout Kansas, in parkland and woodland edge. + +_Breeding schedule._--Thirteen records of egg-laying span the period +March 21 to May 20; the modal date of laying is not evident in this +sample but it probably falls around April 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 5). + +Nests are placed in cavities about 16 feet high, actually 12 to 30 +feet, in cottonwood, ash, maple, Purple Martin "houses," and human +dwellings. + + +=Greater Prairie Chicken=: _Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus_ +(Brewster).--This is a locally common resident in eastern Kansas, in +and about bluestem prairie grassland, and is local in the northwest in +undisturbed plains grassland. Wolfe (1961) reports that the species +was common in Decatur County shortly after the turn of the Century, +but that it became rare by 1914. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of breeding span the period +May 1 to June 10 (Fig. 3); the modal date for laying is May 5. The +sample indicates an abrupt inception to laying of eggs, and this may +be a reflection of timing characteristic of behavior at leks, or +booming grounds. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 12 eggs (11.7, 9-15; 17). + +Nests are placed on the surface of the ground in bluestem grassland or +plains bunchgrass, usually under cover of prairie grasses and forbs. + + +=Lesser Prairie Chicken=: _Tympanuchus pallidicinctus_ +(Ridgway).--This is a local resident in sandy grassland in +southwestern Kansas. Distribution is to the west and south of Pawnee +County. + +_Breeding schedule._--There is no information on timing of the +breeding season in Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is thought to be near that of the +Greater Prairie Chicken. Vic Housholder (MS) observed a hen with ten +chicks ten miles south of Dodge City, Ford County, on June 1, 1955. + + +=Bobwhite=: _Colinus virginianus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common +resident in the east, but is local in western Kansas; occurrence is in +broken woodland and other edge habitats. _C. v. virginianus_ +(Linnaeus) is found northeast of stations in Nemaha, Douglas, and +Miami counties, and _C. v. taylori_ Lincoln is found in the remainder +of the State. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-four records of breeding span the period +May 1 to September 20 (Fig. 3); the modal date for first clutches is +May 25. The long period of egg-laying after May probably includes both +renesting efforts and true second nestings. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 13 eggs (12.8, 8-21; 22); in +the present sample 16 eggs was the most frequent number. + +Nests are placed on the surface of the ground at bases of bunch +grasses, saplings, trees, or posts, under cover of prairie grasses, +forbs, or small woody plants. + + +=Scaled Quail=: _Callipepla squamata pallida_ Brewster.--This is a +locally common resident in southwestern Kansas, chiefly west of Clark +County and south of the Arkansas River; preferred habitat seems to be +in open, sandy prairie. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May; the egg-season in +Kansas is unlikely to be so prolonged as that of the Bobwhite; among +other factors involved, the Scaled Quail in Kansas is at a northern +extreme of its distribution, where suboptimal environmental conditions +may occur relatively frequently. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 10 to 12 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the ground surface under woody or herbaceous +cover. + + +=Ring-necked Pheasant=: _Phasianus colchicus_ Linnaeus.--This +introduced resident is common in western Kansas, is local and uncommon +in the east, and is found in agricultural land with scattered woody +vegetation. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 10 to 12 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the surface of the ground in woody or herbaceous +cover. + + +=Wild Turkey=: _Meleagris gallopavo_ Linnaeus.--Turkeys formerly +occurred as common residents in flood-plain woodland in eastern Kansas, +and their distribution extended through the west in riparian woodland. +Present population in eastern and southern sectors are partly the +result of introductions of birds from Missouri by humans in the 1950s. +Turkeys in southern Kansas are also present owing to natural dispersal +along the Arkansas and Medicine Lodge rivers of birds native to and +introduced into Oklahoma. No specimens of turkeys presently found in +Kansas are available for examination but these birds probably are +referable to _M. g. silvestris_ Vieillot, the trinomen applied to +turkeys in Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma. + +Turkeys from southern Texas recently have been liberated at several +localities in southern Nebraska; turkeys seen in extreme northern +Kansas are thus probably of these stocks. The name _M. g. intermedia_ +Sennett is applicable to these birds. + +_Breeding schedule._--No information is available on the egg-season in +Kansas; turkeys have nested in southern Kansas within recent years, +however. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is perhaps 12 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the surface of the ground, usually well-concealed +under woody vegetation. + + +=King Rail=: _Rallus elegans elegans_ Audubon.--This summer resident is +locally common in marshlands. Nesting records or adults taken in the +breeding season are from Cheyenne, Meade, Pratt, Stafford, Cloud, Riley, +Douglas, Anderson, and Allen counties. Dates of arrival in spring are +recorded from April 7 to April 28; the median date is April 18. +Departure in autumn is possibly as early as September in the north, but +four records are in the period October 12 to November 25. The species +occasionally can be found in winter (Douglas County, December 28, 1915). + +_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period May +1 to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 10 eggs (9 to 12; 4 records). + +Nests are placed on the surface of the ground, under grassy or woody +cover. + + +=Virginia Rail=: _Rallus limicola limicola_ Vieillot.--This is an +uncommon summer resident, presumably throughout the State. The one +breeding record is from Morton County (May 24, 1950; Graber and +Graber, 1951). Dates of spring arrival are from April 19 to May 18; +dates of last observation in autumn are within the period September 1 +to October 30. A few birds overwinter in the southern part of the +State (Meade County, December and January). + +_Breeding season._--Eggs are laid probably in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Six to 12 eggs are laid (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed in emergent aquatic plants, near the surface of the +water. + + +=Sora=: _Porzana carolina_ (Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer +resident in marshland. Nesting records or specimens taken in the +breeding season come from Finney, Barton, Jefferson, Douglas, and +Miami counties. First dates of observation in spring are from April 11 +to May 9 (the median is May 1); dates when last observed in autumn are +from September 30 to November 9 (the median is October 18). + +_Breeding schedule._--The one dated record comes from August. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 10 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are on the ground in grassy or herbaceous cover. + + +=Black Rail=: _Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis_ (Gmelin).--This is +an uncommon summer resident in Kansas. Records of breeding and +specimens taken in the breeding season come from Finney, Meade, Riley, +and Franklin counties. Seasonal occurrence is within the period March +18 to September 26. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 8 eggs (6-10; 4). Nests are +on the ground under cover of marsh plants. + + +=Common Gallinule=: _Gallinula chloropus cachinnans_ Bangs.--This is a +local summer resident in marshlands. Nesting records and specimens taken +in the breeding season come from Barton, Stafford, Shawnee, Douglas, and +Coffey counties. Occurrence in the State is from April through +September. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 10 eggs. + +Nests are in marsh grasses and other emergent vegetation, not +necessarily over water. + + +=American Coot=: _Fulica americana americana_ Gmelin.--This is an +uncommon, local summer resident in wetlands in Kansas. Coots are at +greatest abundance in autumnal and spring migratory movements, but are +present all year. Nesting has been recorded from Barton, Stafford, +Doniphan, and Douglas counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-eight records of breeding span the period +May 11 to June 30; the mode to laying is May 25. Earlier breeding +probably occurs in the State. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 8 eggs (7.7, 5-12; 28). + +Nests are made of marsh vegetation (arrowhead, cattail) and float on +water. + + +=Snowy Plover=: _Charadrius alexandrinus tenuirostris_ +(Lawrence).--This summer resident is fairly common on the saline flats +of central and south-central Kansas. Breeding records are from Barton, +Stafford, Meade, Clark, and Comanche counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records show that eggs are laid in the +period May 25 to June 20; the peak of laying seems to be around June +10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs. + +Eggs are deposited on bare sand. + + +=Killdeer=: _Charadrius vociferus vociferus_ Linnaeus.--This summer +resident is common throughout the State, in open country frequently +near wetlands. A few individuals overwinter in Kansas, especially in +the southern counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 29 records of breeding span the period March +21 to June 30; the modal date of laying is May 20. The distribution of +completed clutches (Fig. 3) suggests that Killdeers are here +double-brooded. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs. + +Eggs are laid on the surface of the ground, frequently on gravel, +field stubble, plowed earth, and pasture. + + +=Mountain Plover=: _Eupoda montana_ (Townsend).--This is an uncommon +and local summer resident in western short-grass prairie. Breeding +records come from Greeley and Decatur counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Wolfe (1961) wrote that the species in Decatur +County laid eggs in the "last of May" in the early 1900s. The only +other dated breeding record is of downy young (KU 5512, 5513) taken on +June 21. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is usually 3 eggs. + +Eggs are laid in slight depressions in the ground, "lined with a few +grass stems," according to Wolfe (1961). + + +=American Woodcock=: _Philohela minor_ (Gmelin).--This is a rare +summer resident in wet woodlands in eastern Kansas. Arrival in the +northeast is from mid-March through April, with departures southward +occurring from September to December; the last date on which the +species has been seen in any year is December 5. There are nesting +records only from Woodson County; probably the species nests in +Douglas County (Fitch, 1958:194). + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in April. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is usually 4 eggs. + +Nests are depressions in the dry ground within swampy places, usually +under heavy plant cover. + + +=Long-billed Curlew=: _Numenius americanus americanus_ +Bechstein.--This is an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas, in +prairie grassland. Breeding records are from Stanton and Morton +counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs. + +Eggs are laid in slight depressions in the ground in grassy cover. + + +=Upland Plover=: _Bartramia longicauda_ (Bechstein).--This is a locally +common summer resident, most conspicuously in the Flint Hills, in +grassland. Breeding records are from Trego, Hamilton, Finney, Morton, +Meade, Marion, Chase, Kearny, Butler, Cowley, Douglas, Johnson, +Wabaunsee, Franklin, Anderson, and Coffey counties. Dates of first +arrival in spring span the period April 2 to May 5 (the median is April +19), and dates last seen in autumn are from September 3 to October 6 +(the median is September 13). + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period +April 21 to June 10; the modal date for egg-laying is May 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid. + +Eggs are placed on vegetation on the ground surface, in pasture, field +stubble, or gravel, frequently under heavy plant cover. + + +=Spotted Sandpiper=: _Actitis macularia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident is locally common on wet ground and along streams. Dates of +arrival in spring are from March 29 to April 30 (the median is April +24), and dates of last observation in autumn span the period September +2 to October 10 (the median is September 18). + +_Breeding schedule._--Egg records are all from the northeastern +sector, and all are for May. + +_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid. + +Nests are of plant fibers in depressions in dry ground on gravel +banks, pond or stream borders, or in pastureland. + + +=American Avocet=: _Recurvirostra americana_ Gmelin.--This is a local +summer resident in marshes in central and western Kansas. There are +breeding records from Finney, Barton, and Stafford counties. Extreme +dates within which avocets have been recorded are April 2 to November +21. + +_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period +May 11 to June 20 (26 records shown in Fig. 3); the modal date for +laying is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid. + +Nests are placed on the surface of the ground, near water. + + +=Wilson Phalarope=: _Steganopus tricolor_ Vieillot.--This is a local +summer resident in marshes in central and western Kansas, but breeding +records are available only from Barton County. The earliest date of +occurrence is April 7 and the latest is October 14. + +_Breeding schedule._--Ten records indicate eggs are laid in May and +June. + +_Number of eggs._--Three or 4 eggs are laid. + +Nests are of plant stems in slight depressions in the ground. + + +=Forster Tern=: _Sterna forsteri_ Nuttall.--This is a local summer +resident in central Kansas, in marshes. There are breeding records +only from Cheyenne Bottoms, Barton County (Zuvanich, 1963:1). First +dates of arrival in spring span the period April 9 to 29 (the median +is April 22), and apparent departure south in autumn occurs from +August 1 to November 1 (the median is September 3). + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-three records of nesting are from late +May to mid-June; all records are for the year 1962. + +_Number of eggs._--Usually 4 eggs are laid. + +Nests are frequently floating platforms of vegetation (algae, cattail, +and the like) in shallow water; old nests of Pied-billed Grebes are +sometimes used as bases, and occasionally the birds nest on the +ground. + + +=Least Tern=: _Sterna albifrons athalassos_ Burleigh and Lowery.--This +tern is a local summer resident in marshes and along streams in central +and western Kansas. There are breeding records from Hamilton, Meade, and +Stafford counties. First dates of arrival in spring are from May 14 to +30 (the median is May 28), and last dates of occurrence in autumn are +from August 9 to September 7 (the median is August 25). + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of egg-laying are from May 21 +to June 30 (Fig. 4); the modal date for laying is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Two, 3 or 4 eggs are laid. + +Eggs are laid on the bare ground, usually a sandy surface, near water. + + +=Black Tern=: _Chlidonias niger surinamensis_ (Gmelin).--This is a +local summer resident in marshlands in central Kansas. There are +breeding records only from Barton County for 1961 and 1962; possibly +the species breeds in Douglas County. First dates of arrival in spring +are from May 3 to 29 (the median is May 14), and last dates of +occurrence in autumn are from September 2 to 30 (the median is +September 11). + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-four sets of eggs (Parmelee, 1961:25; M. +Schwilling) were complete between June 11 and July 12. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs. + +Nests are of dead plant matter placed on floating parts of emergent +green plants in shallow water. + + +=Rock Dove=: _Columba livia_ Gmelin.--This species was introduced into +North America by man from European stocks of semi-domesticated +ancestry. "Pigeons" now are feral around towns and farms, and +cliffsides in the west, and are locally common permanent residents +throughout the State. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in every month of the year. The +main season of breeding is spring, and this is depicted in Figure 4; +the 26 records of breeding by feral birds are from January 11 to June +10, and the modal date of laying is probably April 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Pigeons usually lay 2 eggs. Nests are of sticks +and other plant matter placed on ledges and recesses of buildings, +bridges, and cliffs, 10 to 60 feet high. + + [Illustration: FIG. 4.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of the Least Tern, two doves, the Yellow-billed + Cuckoo, and two owls in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for + explanation of histograms.] + + +=Mourning Dove=: _Zenaidura macroura marginella_ (Woodhouse).--This is +a common summer resident throughout the State, in open country and +woodland edge. The species is also present in winter in much reduced +numbers, and many are transient in periods of migration. The time of +greatest abundance is from March to November. Doves of extreme eastern +Kansas have by some workers been referred to the subspecies _Z. m. +carolinensis_ (Linnaeus); specimens at the Museum of Natural History +indicate that these doves are best regarded as members of populations +of intermediate subspecific, or morphologic, affinities, and that they +are satisfactorily included within _Z. m. marginella_. + +_Breeding schedule._--Numerous (983) records of egg-laying from +north-central Kansas are from April 1 to September 10; the modal date +for laying is May 15. Forty-three records of breeding from +northeastern Kansas span the period March 21 to August 10; the modal +date of laying is May 15. These samples are depicted in Figure 4. + +Both sets of data are shown here to illustrate some of the differences +between large and small samples of heterogeneous data. The small +sample tends to be incomplete both early and late in the season, and +the mode tends to be conspicuous. Yet, the modes for the two samples +coincide. Also, the data from the north-central sector indicate that +egg-laying in March would be found less than once in 983 records, but +the small sample from the northeast includes one record for March. +Such an instance doubtless reflects, at least in part, the fact that +the two geographic sectors have different environmental conditions, +but it is likely that the instance also partly reflects the +unpredictable nature of sampling. + +_Number of eggs._--Doves lay two eggs. About one per cent of all nests +have 3 eggs, but it is not known for any of these whether one or two +females were responsible. + +Nests are placed in a wide variety of plants, or on the ground. The +commonest plants are those used most frequently; in north-central +Kansas one-third of all nests are placed in osage orange trees, but in +the northeast elms are most frequently used. Nestsites are from zero +to 15 feet high. + + +=Yellow-billed Cuckoo=: _Coccyzus americanus americanus_ +(Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident in riparian and +second-growth habitats throughout the State. Twenty-three dates of +first arrival in spring fall between April 29 and May 22 (the median +is May 12), and nine dates of last observation in autumn run from +September 13 to October 12 (the median is September 23). + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of egg-laying span the period +May 11 to September 10 (Fig. 4); the modal date of laying is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 2-5; 54). + +Nests are placed about six feet high (from four to 20 feet) in sumac, +rose, pawpaw, mulberry, elm, cottonwood, willow, redbud, oak, osage +orange, walnut, boxelder, usually on horizontal surfaces, and in heavy +cover. + + +=Black-billed Cuckoo=: _Coccyzus erythropthalmus_ (Wilson).--This is +an uncommon summer resident, occurring in heavy riparian shrubbery and +second-growth. Breeding records are chiefly from eastern Kansas, but +specimens have been taken in the breeding season in all parts of the +State. Eleven dates of first arrival in spring are from May 7 to May +30 (the median is May 19), and four dates of last observed occurrence +in autumn are between September 4 and October 7 (the average is +September 18). + +_Breeding schedule._--Seventeen records of egg-laying are between May +21 and August 10; the mode is at June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 to 3 eggs (2.5, 2-3; 13). + +Nests are placed about four feet high in heavy cover in plum, elm, +locust, and the like. + + +=Roadrunner=: _Geococcyx californianus_ (Lesson).--This is a local +resident in southern Kansas in xeric scrub or open edge habitats. +Breeding records are from Cowley and Sumner counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from early April to +mid-July. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 4). + +Nests are placed on the ground under plant cover, or occasionally low +in bushes. + + +=Barn Owl=: _Tyto alba pratincola_ Bonaparte.--This resident has a low +density throughout Kansas in open woodland and near agricultural +enterprises of man. + +_Breeding schedule._--The few records available indicate egg-laying +occurs at least from April to July; elsewhere the species is known to +have a more protracted breeding schedule. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs (4.7, 2-6; 4). + +Nests are informal aggregations of sticks and litter placed in +recesses in stumps, hollow trees, rocky and earthen banks, and +dwellings and outbuildings of man. + + +=Screech Owl=: _Otus asio_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common resident in +woodland habitats throughout Kansas. _O. a. aikeni_ (Brewster) occurs +west of Rawlins, Gove, and Comanche counties, and _O. a. naevius_ +(Gmelin) occurs in the remainder of the State except for the eastern +south-central sector, occupied by _O. a. hasbroucki_ Ridgway. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifteen records of egg-laying span the period +March 20 to May 10; there is a strong mode at April 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-6; 12). + +Nests are placed in holes and recesses in trees, three to 20 feet +high. + + +=Great Horned Owl=: _Bubo virginianus_ (Gmelin).--This is a common +resident throughout Kansas, especially near woodlands and cliffsides. +_B. v. virginianus_ (Gmelin) occurs east of a line through Rawlins and +Meade counties and _B. v. occidentalis_ Stone occurs to the west. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-seven records of egg-laying span the +period January 11 to March 20 (Fig. 4); the modal date for laying is +near February 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs (2.4, 2-3; 22). + +Nests are placed about 30 feet high in cottonwood, elm, osage orange, +hackberry, juniper, locust, cliffsides, and buildings of man. Old +nests of hawks, crows, and herons are frequently appropriated. + + +=Burrowing Owl=: _Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea_ (Bonaparte).--This is +an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas in grassland and open +scrub habitats. Stations of breeding all come from west of a line +running through Cloud and Barber counties. Arrival in spring is +between March 22 and April 17 (the median for 7 records is April 9), +and dates last seen in autumn span the period September 8 to November +14 (the median for 9 records is September 26). + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of egg-laying run from April +11 to July 10 (Fig. 4); the mode of laying is May 15. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 7 or 8 eggs. + +Nests are informal aggregations of plant and animal fibers in chambers +of earthen burrows usually made by badgers or prairie dogs. + + +=Barred Owl=: _Strix varia varia_ Barton.--This is a local resident in +eastern Kansas, in heavy woodland. The species is said by implication +(A. O. U. Check-list, 1957) to occur in western Kansas, but no good +breeding records are available, all such records coming from and east +of Morris County. Specimens from southeastern Kansas show morphologic +intergradation with characters of _S. v. georgica_ Latham. + +_Breeding schedule._--Three records of egg-laying are for the first +half of March. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size in our sample is 2 eggs. + +Nests are situated in cavities in trees or in old hawk or crow nests. + + +=Long-eared Owl=: _Asio otus wilsonianus_ (Lesson).--This owl is a local +resident or summer resident in woodland with heavy cover throughout the +State. Breeding records are available from Trego, Meade, Cloud, and +Douglas counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Four records of egg-laying are for the period +March 11 to April 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs. + +Nests are placed in hollows of trees, stumps, cliffsides, on the +ground surface, or in old hawk, crow, or magpie nests (Davie, 1898). + + +=Short-eared Owl=: _Asio flammeus flammeus_ (Pontoppidan).--This is a +local resident or summer resident in open, marshy, and edge habitats; +records of nesting come from Republic, Marshall, Woodson, and Bourbon +counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in April. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 6 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are simple structures of sticks and grasses, placed on the +ground in grasses, frequently near cover of downed timber or bushes. + + +=Saw-whet Owl=: _Aegolius acadicus acadicus_ (Gmelin).--This is a rare +and local resident, in woodland. There is one breeding record (summer, +1951, Wyandotte County; Tordoff, 1956:331). + + +=Chuck-will's-widow=: _Caprimulgus carolinensis_ Gmelin.--This is a +locally common summer resident in woodland habitats in eastern Kansas. +Stations of occurrence of actual breeding fall south of Wyandotte +County and east of Shawnee, Greenwood, Stafford, and Sedgwick +counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Five records of breeding come between April 21 +and May 31, with a peak perhaps in the first third of May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs. + +Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter, usually under shrubby cover. + + +=Whip-poor-will=: _Caprimulgus vociferus vociferus_ Wilson.--This is a +local summer resident in woodland in eastern Kansas. Breeding records +are available only from Doniphan, Leavenworth, and Douglas counties; +there are sight records in summer from Shawnee County. + +_Breeding schedule._--Two records of breeding cover the period May 21 +to June 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs. + +Eggs are laid on heavy leaf-litter in shrubby cover. + + +=Poor-will=: _Phalaenoptilus nuttallii nuttallii_ (Audubon).--This is +a common summer resident in western Kansas, in xeric, scrubby +woodland. Breeding records are chiefly from west of Riley County, but +there is one from Franklin County; specimens taken in the breeding +season are available from Doniphan, Douglas, Anderson, Woodson, and +Greenwood counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Six records of egg-laying are from the period May 1 +to June 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs. + +Eggs are laid on the ground, with or without plant cover. + + TABLE 12.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT CAPRIMULGIDS + AND APODIDS IN KANSAS + + ==================+==========================+============================ + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + ------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + Chuck-will's-widow| Apr. 20-May 1 | Apr. 28 | Oct.-Dec. | Oct. ? + Whip-poor-will | Apr. 6-Apr. 25 | Apr. 17 | Sept. 10-Oct. 11 | Sept. 21 + Poor-will | Apr. 12 | ... | Sept. 20 | ... + Common Nighthawk | Apr. 29-May 23 | May 15 | Sept. 13-Oct. 18 | Sept. 23 + Chimney Swift | Apr. 2-Apr. 30 | Apr. 22 | Sept. 18-Oct. 30 | Oct. 4 + Ruby-throated | | | | + Hummingbird | Apr. 2-May 19 | May 6 | Sept. 3-Oct. 15 | Sept. 10 + ------------------+----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + + +=Common Nighthawk=: _Chordeiles minor_ (Forster).--This is a common +summer resident throughout Kansas. Temporal occurrence is indicated +in Table 11. Three subspecies reach their distributional limits in +the State, _C. m. minor_ (Forster) in northeastern Kansas, _C. m. +chapmani_ Coues in southeastern Kansas, and _C. m. howelli_ Oberholser +west of the Flint Hills. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period +May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is June 10 (Fig. 5). + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs. + +Eggs are laid on the ground in rocky or gravelly areas, on unpaved +roads, or on flat, gravelled tops of buildings of man. + + +=Chimney Swift=: _Chaetura pelagica_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common +summer resident in eastern Kansas, around towns. Temporal occurrence +in the State is indicated in Table 12. + +_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-six records of breeding span the period +May 11 to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25 (Fig. 5). + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are secured by means of a salivary cement to vertical surfaces, +usually near the inside tops of chimneys in dwellings of man, but +occasionally in abandoned buildings and hollow trees. + + +=Ruby-throated Hummingbird=: _Archilochus colubris_ (Linnaeus).--This +is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, and is rare in the +west, in towns and along riparian vegetation. Temporal occurrence in +the State is listed in Table 12. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding fall within the period +May 21 to July 10; there seems to be a peak to laying in the last +third of June. _Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 2 eggs. + +Most nests are on outer branches of shrubs and trees, in forks or on +pendant branches, 10 to 20 feet high. + + +=Belted Kingfisher=: _Megaceryle alcyon alcyon_ (Linnaeus).--This +summer resident is common throughout the State in streamside and +lakeside habitats. Timing of arrival and departure of the breeding +birds is not well-documented owing to the fact that the species is +also transient and a winter resident in the State. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from April 21 to May 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is near 6 eggs. + +Eggs are laid on the floor of the chamber at the inner end of a +horizontal tunnel excavated in an earthen bank. The tunnel is two to +six feet long and many tunnels are strewn with bones and other dietary +refuse. + + +=Yellow-shafted Flicker=: _Colaptes auratus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a +common resident and summer resident in eastern Kansas, meeting, +hybridizing with, and partly replaced by _Colaptes cafer_ westward, in +open woodlands. _C. a. auratus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in southeastern +Kansas, and _C. a. luteus_ Bangs occurs in the remainder, intergrading +west of the Flint Hills with _C. cafer_. + +_Breeding season._--Forty-eight records of breeding span the period +April 11 to June 10; the modal date for egg-laying is May 10 (Fig. 5). +This sample is drawn from central and eastern Kansas, but includes +records of breeding by some birds identified in the field as _C. +cafer_. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 6 eggs. + +Nests are piles of wood chips in cavities excavated in stumps and dead +limbs of trees such as willow, cottonwood, mulberry, and catalpa, +ordinarily about six feet above the ground. + + +=Red-shafted Flicker=: _Colaptes cafer collaris_ Vigors.--This +woodpecker is a common summer resident in western Kansas, meeting, +hybridizing with, and largely replaced by _C. auratus_ in central and +eastern sectors. The vast majority of specimens taken in Kansas show +evidence of intergradation with _C. auratus_. + +_Breeding schedule._--The few records of flickers identified in the +field as _C. cafer_ have been combined with those of _C. auratus_ +(Fig. 5). + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is perhaps 6 eggs. + +Nests are like those of _C. auratus_. + + +=Pileated Woodpecker=: _Dryocopus pileatus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a +rare and local resident in the east, in heavy timber. The species has +been seen, chiefly in winter, in all sectors of eastern Kansas in +recent years, but actual records of breeding come only from Linn and +Cherokee counties. _D. p. abieticola_ (Bangs) occurs in the northeast, +and _D. p. pileatus_ (Linnaeus) in the southeast. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in April. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs. + +Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated 45 to 60 feet high in +main trunks of cottonwood, sycamore, and pin oak. + + +=Red-bellied Woodpecker=: _Centurus carolinus zebra_ (Boddaert).--In +woodland habitats this is a common resident in eastern Kansas, local +in the west. + +_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-seven records of breeding span the period +March 1 to June 30 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is around +April 25. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs. + +Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated in elm, cottonwood, box +elder, ash, hickory, or willow, about 25 feet high (nine to 60 feet). + + [Illustration: FIG. 5.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of the Common Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, woodpeckers, + and flycatchers in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for + explanation of histograms.] + + +=Red-headed Woodpecker=: _Melanerpes erythrocephalus_ +(Linnaeus).--This is a common summer resident and uncommon permanent +resident in open woodland; in winter it is noted especially around +groves of oaks. _M. e. erythrocephalus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in eastern +Kansas and _M. e. caurinus_ Brodkorb occurs in central and western +Kansas. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-eight records of breeding span the period +May 1 to August 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs. + +Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 25 feet high in +willow, cottonwood, and elm. + + +=Hairy Woodpecker=: _Dendrocopos villosus villosus_ (Linnaeus).--This +resident is common in woodlands throughout the State. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-eight records of breeding span the period +March 21 to May 30 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is May 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 13 feet high in +elm, honey locust, and ash. + + +=Downy Woodpecker=: _Dendrocopos pubescens_ (Linnaeus).--This resident +is common in woodland throughout the State. _D. p. pubescens_ +(Linnaeus) occurs in southeastern Kansas, and _D. p. medianus_ +(Swainson) in the remainder. + +_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period +April 11 to June 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is May 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are of wood chips in cavities excavated about 20 feet high in +willow, honey locust, ash, apple, and pear. + + +=Eastern Kingbird=: _Tyrannus tyrannus_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident is common throughout the east; it is local in the west but +there maintains conspicuous numbers in favorable places, such as +riparian woodland; preferred habitat in eastern sectors is typically +in woodland edge. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13. + +_Breeding season._--Sixty-three dates of egg-laying span the period +May 11 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for completion of clutches +is June 15. Nearly 70 per cent of all eggs are laid in June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.3, 2-3; 10). Clutches are +probably larger than the average in May and smaller in June and July. + +Nests are placed in crotches, terminal forks, and some on tops of +limbs, about 16 feet high, in elm, sycamore, honey locust, willow, +oak, apple, and red cedar. + + +=Western Kingbird=: _Tyrannus verticalis_ Say.--This summer resident +is common in the west, but is local and less abundant in the east. +Preferred habitat is in woodland edge, open country with scattered +trees, and in towns. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13. +_Breeding schedule._--The 124 dates of egg-laying span the period May +11 to July 31 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is June 15. More +than 70 per cent of all clutches are laid in June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 8). + +Nests are placed in crotches, lateral forks, or on horizontal limbs, +about 26 feet high, in cottonwood, elm, osage orange, hackberry, honey +locust, mulberry, oak, and on power poles. + + +=Scissor-tailed Flycatcher=: _Muscivora forficata_ (Gmelin).--This +summer resident is common in central and southern Kansas; it is rare +to absent in the northwestern sector, and is local in the northeast. +Preferred habitat is in open country with scattered trees. Temporal +occurrence is indicated in Table 13. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-eight records of breeding occur from May +21 to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date of egg-laying is June 25. The +present sample of records is small, and there is otherwise no evidence +suggesting that the breeding schedule of this species differs from +those of the other two kingbirds in Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.2, 2-5; 17). Mean +clutch-size for the first peak of laying shown in Figure 5 is 4.0 +eggs; that for the second peak is 2.7 eggs. + +Nests are placed in forks or on horizontal limbs of osage orange, red +haw, elm, and on crosspieces of power poles, about 15 feet high +(ranging from five to 35 feet). + + +=Great Crested Flycatcher=: _Myiarchus crinitus boreus_ Bangs.--This +summer resident is common in eastern Kansas, but is less numerous in +the west. Preferred habitat is in woodland and woodland edge. Temporal +occurrence is indicated in Table 13. + +_Breeding schedule._--The twenty-two records of egg-laying are in the +period May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is +June 5. The shape of the histogram (Fig. 5) indicates that some +breeding for which records are lacking occurs earlier in May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-6; 6). + +Nests are placed in hollows and crevices in elm, maple, cottonwood, +willow, pear, apple, oak, drain spouts, and, occasionally, "bird houses" +made by man, about 17 feet high (four to 45 feet high). + + TABLE 13.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT FLYCATCHERS IN + KANSAS + + =================+===========================+============================ + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +-----------------+---------+-----------------+---------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + -----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+---------- + Eastern Kingbird | Apr. 22-Apr. 30 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 1-Sept. 24| Sept. 13 + Western Kingbird | Apr. 23-Apr. 30 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 1-Sept. 26| Sept. 8 + Scissor-tailed | | | | + Flycatcher | Apr. 15-Apr. 28 | Apr. 18 | Sept. 21-Oct. 22| Oct. 12 + Great Crested | | | | + Flycatcher | Apr. 15-May 4 | Apr. 29 | Sept. 1-Sept. 21| Sept. 9 + Eastern Phoebe | Mar. 3-Mar. 31 | Mar. 22 | Oct. 3-Oct. 27 | Oct. 9 + Say Phoebe | Apr. 4-Apr. 22 | Apr. 12 | | + Acadian | | | | + Flycatcher | Apr. 30-May 19 | May 9 | Sept. 3-Sept. 17| Sept. 4 + Eastern Wood | | | | + Pewee | Apr. 2-May 28 | May 19 | Aug. 30-Sept. 18| Sept. 6 + -----------------+-----------------+---------+-----------------+---------- + + +=Eastern Phoebe=: _Sayornis phoebe_ (Latham).--This summer resident is +common in eastern Kansas, but is local in the west. Preferred habitat +is in woodland edge and riparian groves, where most birds are found +near bridges, culverts, or isolated outbuildings of man. Temporal +occurrence is indicated in Table 13. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 136 records of breeding span the period +March 21 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is April +25 (for first clutches) and June 5 (for second clutches); this species +seems to be the only double-brooded flycatcher in Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 to 5 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 58). The +seasonal progression in clutch-size can be summarized as follows: + + March 21-April 10: 4.0 eggs (2 records) + April 11-May 10: 4.4 eggs (37 records) + May 11-June 10: 3.9 eggs (10 records) + June 11-July 20: 3.6 eggs (9 records) + +Nests are placed on horizontal, vertical, or overhanging surfaces of +culverts, bridges, houses of man, earthen cliffs, rocky ledges, and +entrances to caves, at an average height of 7.8 feet. + + +=Say Phoebe=: _Sayornis saya saya_ (Bonaparte).--This is a common +summer resident in western Kansas, breeding at least east to Cloud +County, in open country. Occurrence in time is listed in Table 13. + +_Breeding schedule._--Ten records of breeding fall in the period May 1 +to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is in late May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs. + +Nests are placed under bridges, in houses, or on cliffsides and +earthen banks. + + +=Acadian Flycatcher=: _Empidonax virescens_ (Vieillot).--This is an +uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland and riparian +habitats. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 13. + +_Breeding schedule._--The available records of breeding by this +species in Kansas are too few to indicate reliably the span of the +breeding season. Information on hand suggests that Acadian Flycatchers +lay most eggs in late May or early June, and this places their nesting +peak some 10 to 20 days earlier than peaks for Wood Pewees and Traill +Flycatchers. + +_Number of eggs._--Five records show 3 eggs each. + +Nests are placed about six feet high on terminal twigs of oak and +alder. + + +=Traill Flycatcher=: _Empidonax traillii traillii_ (Audubon).--This +flycatcher has only recently been found nesting within Kansas; the +species is not included in analyses above. Twenty-three nesting +records are here reported, for the species in Kansas City, Jackson and +Platte counties, Missouri. Most of these records are from within a few +hundred yards of the political boundary of Kansas. The Traill +Flycatcher is a local summer resident in extreme northeastern Kansas +(Doniphan County), in wet woodland and riparian groves. Temporal +occurrence is not well-documented; first dates run from May 19 to 25; +the last dates of annual occurrence, possibly not all for transients, +run from August 14 to September 24. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-three records of breeding are from May 21 +to July 10 (Fig. 5); the modal date for egg-laying is June 15. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.4, 2-5; 22). + +Nests are placed in forks, crotches, and occasionally near trunks, +chiefly of willow, from 4.5 to 12 feet high (averaging six feet). + + +=Eastern Wood Pewee=: _Contopus virens_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident is common in the east, but is rare in the west. Preferred +habitat is in edge of forest and woodland. Temporal occurrence is +indicated in Table 13. + +_Breeding schedule._--Nineteen dates of egg-laying span the period +June 1 to July 20 (Fig. 5); the modal date for completion of clutches +is June 15, and more than half of all clutches are laid in the period +June 11 to 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 3 eggs. + +Nests are placed on upper surfaces of horizontal limbs of oak, elm, +and sycamore, about 22 feet high. + + +=Horned Lark=: _Eremophila alpestris_ (Linnaeus).--Breeding +populations are resident in open country with short or cropped +vegetation. _E. a. praticola_ (Henshaw) lives in the east, and _E. a. +enthymia_ (Oberholser) in the west. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-one records of breeding span the period +March 11 to June 10 (Fig. 6); the modal date for egg-laying is March +25. The histogram (Fig. 6) is constructed on a clearly inadequate +sample, and records of breeding both earlier and later are to be +expected. The peak of first nesting activity is probably reasonably +well-indicated by the available records. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.6, 3-5; 16). + +Nests are placed on the ground, usually amid short vegetation such as +cropped prairie grassland or cultivated fields (notably soybeans and +wheat), and occasionally on bare ground. + + TABLE 14.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT SWALLOWS IN + KANSAS + + ===============+===========================+============================= + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + Tree Swallow | Apr. 5-Apr. 30 | Apr. 24 | Sept. 30-Oct. 21 | Oct. 8 + Bank Swallow | Apr. 9-May 19 | May 7 | Sept. 3-Sept. 20 | Sept. 10 + Rough-winged | | | | + Swallow | Mar. 29-May 30 | Apr. 22 | Sept. 23-Oct. 21 | Oct. 10 + Cliff Swallow | Apr. 14-May 27 | May 11 | Sept. 3-Oct. 25 | Sept. 11 + Barn Swallow | Mar. 31-Apr. 29 | Apr. 21 | Sept. 22-Oct. 25 | Oct. 7 + Purple Martin | Mar. 5-Apr. 9 | Mar. 26 | Aug. 28-Sept. 23 | Sept. 3 + ---------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + + +=Tree Swallow=: _Iridoprocne bicolor_ (Vieillot).--This is a summer +resident in extreme northeastern Kansas; nesting birds have been found +only along the Missouri River in Doniphan County. Habitat is in open +woodland, and in Kansas is always associated with water. Temporal +occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 14. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding span the period May 21 +to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 25. The small sample +may not accurately reflect the peak of nesting activity. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs (5.5, 5-6; 4). + +Nests are placed chiefly in abandoned woodpecker diggings in willows, +four to ten feet high, over water. + + +=Bank Swallow=: _Riparia riparia riparia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident is common wherever cut-banks suitable for nesting activities +allow relatively undisturbed behavior. The species is almost always +found near water. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 14. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixty records of breeding span the period May 11 +to June 20 (Fig. 6); the modal date for completion of clutches is June +5. + +Nearly 75 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 21 to +June 10. Under unusual circumstances time of breeding can be greatly +delayed; such circumstances occurred in 1961 in many places along the +Kansas River in eastern Kansas, where the soft, sandy-clay banks were +repeatedly washed away in May and June by high water undercutting the +cliffs. Bank Swallows attempted to work on burrows in late May, but +stabilization of the banks occurred only by late June, and the peak of +egg-laying for many colonies was around July 12. Records for 1961 are +omitted from the sample used here (Fig. 6). + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 3-7; 60). Yearly +clutch-size at one colony 3 miles east of Lawrence, Douglas County, is +as follows: + + 1959: 5.2, 19 records + 1960: 5.0, 12 records + 1961: 3.7, 11 records + 1962: 4.8, 18 records + +The sample for 1961 is that taken in early July when breeding occurred +after a delay of more than a month, as described above. + +Nesting chambers are excavated in sandy-clay banks, piles of sand, +piles of sawdust, or similar sites, at ends of tunnels one to more +than three feet in depth from the vertical face of the substrate. + + +=Rough-winged Swallow=: _Stelgidopteryx ruficollis serripennis_ +(Audubon).--This summer resident is common in most places; it is not +restricted to a single habitat, but needs some sort of earthen or +other substrate with ready-made burrows for nesting. Temporal +occurrence is indicated in Table 14. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 14 records of breeding are in the period May +11 to June 30; the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. Seventy per +cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 21 to June 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.0, 4-6; 4). + +Nesting chambers are in old burrows of Bank Swallows, Kingfishers, +rodents, or in crevices remaining subsequent to decomposition of roots +of plants; frequently this swallow uses a side chamber off the main +tunnel, near the mouth, of a burrow abandoned or still in use by the +other species mentioned above. + + +=Cliff Swallow=: _Petrochelidon pyrrhonota pyrrhonota_ +(Vieillot).--This common summer resident occurs wherever suitable +sites for nests are found. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table +14. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 610 records of breeding span the period May +21 to June 30 (Fig. 6); the modal date for egg-laying is June 5, and +85 per cent of all clutches are laid from May 21 to June 10. Such +synchronous breeding activity is probably a function of strong +coloniality with attendant "social facilitation" of breeding behavior. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.9, 3-7; 7). + +Nests are built in mud jugs plastered to vertical rock faces, bridges, +culverts, and buildings from a few feet to more than 100 feet above +the ground. + + [Illustration: FIG. 6.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of the Horned Lark and swallows in Kansas. See legend + to Figure 1 for explanation of histograms.] + + +=Barn Swallow=: _Hirundo rustica erythrogaster_ Boddaert.--This summer +resident is common in most habitats, occurring chiefly about +cultivated fields and pastures. Temporal occurrence is indicated in +Table 14. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-three records of breeding in northern +Kansas span the period May 1 to July 31 (Fig. 6); the modal date for +completion of first clutches is May 25, and that for the second is +July 5. The schedule of breeding in southern Kansas (chiefly Cowley +County), to judge by 41 records, conforms to the one for northern +Kansas: the season spans the period May 1 to August 10, and the modal +date for first clutches is May 15. The ten-day lag in peak of first +clutches of the northern over the southern sample is about what would +be expected on the basis of differential inception of the biological +growing season from south to north each spring. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size does not vary geographically, to judge +only from the present samples, and all are included in the listing to +follow. The modal size of clutches is 5 eggs (4.7, 3-7; 43); clutches +from the period May 1 to 30 show an average of 5.0 eggs, from June 1 +to 20 an average of 4.9 eggs, and from June 21 to August 10, 4.4 eggs. + +Nests are usually placed on horizontal surfaces in barns, sheds, or +other such structures; more rarely they are put on bridges, and less +frequently yet on vertical walls of culverts or sheds. + + +=Purple Martin=: _Progne subis subis_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident is common in the east but rare in the west. The only +documented colony west of the 99th meridian was in Oberlin, Decatur +County (Wolfe, 1961), occupied some 50 years ago. Temporal occurrence +is indicated in Table 14. + +_Breeding schedule._--The breeding season spans the period May 11 to +June 20 (Fig. 6); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5, and 57 per +cent of all clutches are laid in the period June 1 to 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.2, 3-6; 33). Mean +clutch-size is 4.3 eggs in May and 4.2 in June. Adults tend to lay +clutches of 5 eggs and first-year birds clutches of 4. Replacement +clutches by birds of any age tend to be of 3 eggs. + +Nests are built of sticks and mud placed in cavities; in Kansas these +are almost always in colony houses erected by man. Use of holes and +crevices in old buildings is known to have occurred on the campus of +The University of Kansas in the nineteen thirties (W. S. Long, 1936, +MS), in Oberlin, Decatur County in 1908-1914 (Wolfe, _loc. cit._), and +presently in Ottawa, Franklin County (Hardy, 1961). + + +=Blue Jay=: _Cyanocitta cristata bromia_ Oberholser.--This resident is +common throughout Kansas in woodland habitats. Most first-year birds +move south in winter, but adults tend to be strictly permanent +residents. Groups of ten to more than 50 individuals can be seen +moving south in October and north in April. All individuals taken from +such mobile groups are in first-year feather. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eighty-three records of breeding span the period +April 10 to July 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date of egg-laying is May 15, +and about 50 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May +11-31. _Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-6; 15). + +Nests are placed from eight to 70 feet high (averaging 24 feet) in +forks, crotches, and on horizontal limbs of elm, maple, osage orange, +cottonwood, and ash. + + +=Black-billed Magpie=: _Pica pica hudsonia_ (Sabine).--This resident +is common in western Kansas, along riparian groves and woodland edge. +Records of nesting are from as far east as Clay County. Wolfe (1961) +outlines the history of magpies in Decatur County as follows: the +species was purported to have appeared in rural districts near Oberlin +in 1918, but Wolfe saw the birds only by 1921, at which time he also +found the first (used) nests. The first reported occupied nest was one +in Hamilton County in 1925 (Linsdale, 1926). Earlier records, chiefly +of occurrence in winter, can be found in Goss (1891). + +_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period +April 11 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 15. + +_Number of eggs._--There are no data on clutch-size in Kansas; +elsewhere Black-billed Magpies lay 3 to 9 eggs, and clutches of 7 are +found most frequently (Linsdale, 1937:104). + +Nests are placed from 10 to 18 feet high (averaging 13 feet) in forks +or lateral masses of branches in cottonwood, box elder, ash, and +willow. + + +=White-necked Raven=: _Corvus cryptoleucus_ Couch.--This summer +resident is common in western Kansas, probably occupying locally +favorable sites in prairie grassland and woodland edge west of a line +from Smith to Seward counties. The species is known to nest in +Cheyenne, Sherman, and Finney counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--There are few data from Kansas; Aldous (1942) +states that the birds begin activities leading to building sometime in +April in Oklahoma; the peak of egg-laying probably occurs in May, +which coincides with the records from Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Outside Kansas, this species lays 3 to 7 eggs; +these figures seem applicable to Kansas, where brood sizes are known +to run from 1 to 7 young. + +Nests are placed about 20 feet high in cottonwood and other trees. + + +=Common Crow=: _Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos_ Brehm.--This +resident is common in most of Kansas, but numbers are lower in the +west. Distribution in the breeding season is west at least to +Cheyenne, Logan, and Meade counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of breeding span the period +March 10 to May 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is April 5, +and 60 per cent of all eggs are laid between March 21 and April 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 19). + +Nests are placed about 20 feet high in crotches near trunks or heavy +branches of such trees as red cedar, elm, oak, osage orange, +cottonwood, honey locust, box elder, and pine. + + +=Black-capped Chickadee=: _Parus atricapillus_ Linnaeus.--This +resident is common north of the southernmost tier of counties, in +forested and wooded areas. _P. a. atricapillus_ Linnaeus occurs +chiefly east of the 98th meridian, and _P. a. septentrionalis_ Harris +occurs west of this; a broad zone of intergradation exists between +these two subspecies. _Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of +breeding span the period March 21 to June 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date +for laying is April 15, and 64 per cent of all eggs are laid between +April 11 and 30. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.4, 4-7; 10). + +Nests are placed in cavities about ten feet high (ranging from four to +20 feet) in willow, elm, cottonwood, honey locust, apricot, or +nestboxes placed by man. + + [Illustration: FIG. 7.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of crows, chickadees, wrens, thrashers, thrushes, and + their allies in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for explanation + of histograms.] + + +=Carolina Chickadee=: _Parus carolinensis atricapilloides_ Lunk.--This +resident is common in the southernmost tier of counties, from Comanche +County east, in forest and woodland edge. Actual records of breeding +are from Barber and Montgomery counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--There are no data on breeding of this species in +Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs. + +Nests are placed in cavities of trees. + + +=Tufted Titmouse=: _Paras bicolor_ Linnaeus.--This resident is common +in the eastern half of Kansas, in woodlands. Specimens taken in the +breeding season and nesting records come from east of a line running +through Cloud, Harvey, and Sumner counties, and the species probably +breeds in Barber County. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period +March 21 to June 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date for laying is April 25, +and 54 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period April 11 to 30. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 to 5 eggs (4.5; 6). + +Nests are placed in cavities about 12 feet high (ranging from three to +30 feet) in elm, oak, cottonwood, hackberry, redbud, osage orange, and +nestboxes placed by man. + + +=White-breasted Nuthatch=: _Sitta carolinensis_ Latham.--This resident +in eastern Kansas, in well-developed woodland, is uncommon. _S. c. +cookei_ Oberholser occurs east of a line running through Douglas and +Cherokee counties, on the basis of specimens taken in the breeding +season and actual nesting records, and _S. c. carolinensis_ Latham +occurs in Montgomery and Labette counties. _S. c. nelsoni_ Mearns has +been recorded in Morton County but probably does not breed there. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in March and April; young have +been recorded being fed by parents throughout May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is between 5 and 10 eggs. + +Nests are placed in cavities about 30 feet high in elm and sycamore. + + +=House Wren=: _Troglodytes aedon parkmanii_ Audubon.--This summer +resident is common in the east and uncommon in the west. Preferred +habitat is in woodland, brushland, and urban parkland. House Wrens +arrive in eastern Kansas in the period April 3 to 27 (the median is +April 19), and are last seen in autumn in the period September 19 to +October 13 (the median is September 30). + +_Breeding schedule._--The 116 records of breeding span the period +April 11 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date of laying is May 20. +About 45 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period May 11 to 31. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 7 eggs (5.8, 3-7; 20). Clutches laid +in May average 6.1 eggs (4-7; 14); those laid in June and July average +5.0 eggs (3-7; 6). + +Nests are placed in cavities about ten feet high (ranging from two to +50 feet) in cottonwood, elm, willow, and a wide variety of structures, +mostly nestboxes, built by man. + + +=Bewick Wren=: _Thryomanes bewickii_ Audubon.--This wren is an +uncommon resident in Kansas, except for the northeastern quarter, in +woodland understory and brushland. _T. b. bewickii_ Audubon occurs +north and east of stations in Riley, Pottawatomie, Douglas, and Linn +counties, and _T. b. cryptus_ Oberholser is found south of stations in +Greeley, Stafford, and Linn counties; a zone of intergradation occurs +between the two named populations. The species occupies marginal +habitat in most of Kansas and periodically is reduced in numbers by +severe winters. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period +March 21 to July 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is +April 15 and for second clutches June 15. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.5, 5-7; 12). + +Nests are placed in crevices about five feet high (ranging from zero +to nine feet) in trees (oak, cherry, and pear), boulders, and a wide +variety of structures, some of them nestboxes, built by man; +appropriation and modification of nests of Barn Swallows is known to +occur. + + +=Carolina Wren=: _Thryothorus ludovicianus ludovicianus_ Latham.--This +common resident of southeastern Kansas in woodland understory and +brushland is uncommon in the northeastern and south-central sectors. +Stations of breeding all fall east of a line running through Doniphan, +Riley, and western Reno counties. North and west of southeastern +Kansas the Carolina Wren is in marginal habitat and periodically is +reduced in numbers by severe winters. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period +April 11 to August 10; the modal date for laying is April 15, to judge +only from the present sample. The species probably breeds also in late +March and early April. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-8; 9). + +Nests are placed near the ground in stumps, and a wide variety of +structures built by man, or in crevices in earthen banks. + + +=Long-billed Marsh Wren=: _Telmatodytes palustris dissaëptus_ +(Bangs).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas in and +around marshes. Presumably breeding individuals occur east of stations +in Doniphan, Shawnee, and Sedgwick counties, but actual records of +breeding come only from Doniphan County (Linsdale, 1928:505). First +dates of arrival in spring run from April 19 to 29 (the median is +April 22), and dates of last autumnal occurrence are from September 26 +to October 31 (the median is October 8). + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid from May to August. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 or 6 eggs; the range is from 3 to +10 (Welter, 1935). + +Nests are woven of broad-bladed grasses, usually no farther than two +feet from water or mud, suspended in vertical plant stalks or branches +in marshes. + + +=Short-billed Marsh Wren=: _Cistothorus platensis stellaris_ +(Nauman).--This rare and irregular summer resident in northeastern +Kansas occurs in wet meadowland. Breeding records are available from +Douglas and Coffey counties. Temporal occurrence in the State is at +least from April 29 to October 25; early dates are most likely of +transients. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in late July and August. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 6 or 7 eggs. + +Nests are woven of plant fibers and placed in vertically-running +stalks and stems of grasses and short, woody vegetation, within two +feet of the ground. + + +=Rock Wren=: _Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus_ +(Say).--This species is a common summer resident in western Kansas, in +open, rocky country. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual +nests found come from west of stations in Decatur, Trego, and Comanche +counties. Dates of occurrence are from April 2 to October 25. +Autumnal, postbreeding movement brings the species east at least to +Cloud County (October 7, 8, and 12) and Douglas County (October 25). + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period May +11 to July 20; the modal date for egg-laying is June 15. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.6, 3-7; 5). + +Nests are placed in holes in rocks, occasionally in rodent burrows, +from ground level to 80 feet high on faces of cliffs, but there +averaging about 20 feet. + + +=Northern Mockingbird=: _Mimus polyglottos_ (Linnaeus).--This is a +common resident in parkland and brushy savannah throughout Kansas. _M. +p. polyglottos_ (Linnaeus) occurs in the east, and _M. p. leucopterus_ +(Vigors) in the west; a broad zone of intergradation exists between the +two. Most specimens from Kansas are of intermediate morphology. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-nine records of breeding span the period +April 21 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is +June 5, but is weakly indicated in the histogram (Fig. 7). + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-5; 27). Size of +clutch does not vary seasonally or geographically in the present +sample. + +Nests are placed about four feet high (two to 10 feet) in osage +orange, red cedar, mulberry, scotch pine, catalpa, cottonwood, rose, +and arbor vitae. + + +=Catbird=: _Dumetella carolinensis_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common +summer resident in the eastern half of Kansas, but is local in the +west, in and near woodland edge and second-growth. First dates of +arrival in spring are from April 25 to May 14 (the median is May 6), +and last dates of autumnal occurrence are between September 20 and +November 16 (the median is September 26). + +_Breeding schedule._--Seventy-seven records of breeding span the +period May 11 to July 31 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is +May 25, and 57 per cent of all clutches are laid from May 21 to June +10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.3, 2-5; 43). Clutches laid +between May 11 and June 10 tend to be of 4 eggs (3.5, 2-5; 27), and +clutches laid between June 11 and July 31 tend to be of 3 eggs (2.9, +2-4; 16). + +Nests are placed about four feet high in shrubs (rose, lilac, plum, +elderberry) and about seven feet high in trees (red cedar, honey +locust, willow, elm, apple, and in vines in such trees). + + +=Brown Thrasher=: _Toxostoma rufum_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common summer +resident in woodland understory, edge, and second-growth. _T. r. rufum_ +(Linnaeus) occurs in eastern Kansas, to the western edge of the Flint +Hills, and _T. r. longicauda_ Baird occurs west of stations in Decatur, +Lane, and Meade counties; the intervening populations are of +intermediate morphologic character. Some individuals overwinter in +Kansas, but most are regular migrants and summer residents, arriving in +spring from April 1 to April 25 (the median is April 19), and departing +in autumn between September 19 and October 13 (the median is September +28). + +_Breeding schedule._--The 237 records of breeding span the period May 1 +to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is May 15, and +one-third of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs, ranging from 2 to 5. Seasonal +variation and mean values are shown in Table 15. + +Nests are placed about four feet high (ranging from 1-2/3 to 15 feet) in +osage orange, elm, ornamental evergreens, gooseberry, barberry, honey +locust, cottonwood, red cedar, rose, plum, honeysuckle, spirea, arbor +vitae, willow, oak, apple, dogwood, and maple. + + TABLE 15.--SEASONAL VARIATION IN CLUTCH-SIZE OF THE BROWN THRASHER + + ============+==================+=================== + TIME | Mean clutch-size | Number of records + ------------+------------------+------------------- + May 1-10 | 3.3 | 15 + May 10-20 | 3.9 | 38 + May 21-31 | 4.1 | 13 + June 1-10 | 3.5 | 13 + June 11-20 | 3.5 | 12 + June 21-30 | 3.4 | 9 + July 1-10 | 3 | 1 + July 11-20 | 3 | 1 + All: | 3.63 | 102 + ------------+------------------+------------------- + + +=Robin=: _Turdus migratorius migratorius_ Linnaeus.--This summer +resident is common in the east, and is locally common in the west. +Some individuals, usually in small groups, can be seen throughout the +winter in eastern Kansas, and their presence makes it difficult to +document dates of arrival and departure of the strictly summer +resident birds; these can be said to arrive in March and to leave in +October, but these indications are the barest approximations. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 334 records of breeding span the period +April 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date of laying of first +clutches is April 25, but subsequent peaks are indistinct. Nearly half +of all eggs are laid in the period April 11 to 30. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.6, 3-6; 57). Clutches laid +prior to May 10 average 3.6 eggs (3-6; 47), and those laid subsequent +to May 10 average 3.5 eggs (3-4; 10). + +Nests are placed about 13 feet from the ground (ranging from two to 30 +feet) in elm, ornamental conifers, fruit trees, cottonwood, mulberry, +walnut, hackberry, oak, ash, maple, osage orange, and coffeeberry. +Robins rarely nest in manmade structures, such as on rafters in sheds +and barns, on bridge stringers, and, exceptionally, on electrical +utility pole installations. + + +=Wood Thrush=: _Hylocichla mustelina_ (Gmelin).--This is an uncommon +summer resident in eastern Kansas, presently absent from the State +west of stations in Cloud and Barber counties. Preferred habitat is +found in understory of forest and woodland. Wood Thrushes appear to +have nested in small numbers as far west as Oberlin, Decatur County +(Wolfe, 1961), some 50 years ago, but have since disappeared from such +places, probably as a result of progressive modification of watershed +and riparian timber by man. First dates of arrival in spring are from +April 19 to May 20 (the median is May 9), and departure southward is +in the period September 3 to October 1 (the median is September 15). + +_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-eight records of breeding fall in the +period May 11 to August 10 (Fig. 7); the modal date of egg-laying is +June 5 for first clutches. Fifty-five per cent of all eggs are laid +between May 21 and June 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.4, 3-4; 9). + +Nests are placed about 11 feet high in elm, dogwood, willow, linden, +and oak. + + +=Eastern Bluebird=: _Sialia sialis sialis_ (Linnaeus).--This locally +common resident and summer resident in eastern Kansas, is only casual +west of Comanche County, in open parkland and woodland edge. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-four records of breeding span the period +April 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is +April 25 and for second clutches is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.9, 4-6; 15). + +Nests are placed in cavities about eight feet high in trees (elm, box +elder, fruit trees, willow, and ash), and about four feet high in +stumps, fence posts, and nestboxes placed by man. + + +=Blue-gray Gnatcatcher=: _Polioptila caerulea caerulea_ +(Linnaeus).--This summer resident is common in eastern Kansas in +brushy woodland, edge, and second growth. Specimens taken in the +breeding season and nesting records come from east of stations in +Riley and Cowley counties, but there is a breeding specimen from +Oklahoma just south of Harper County, Kansas. The species is present +from March 30 to September 18. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period April +20 to June 20; the modal date for egg-laying is May 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs. + +Nests are placed in forks or on limbs about 17 feet high in oak, elm, +honey locust, red haw, pecan, and walnut. + + +=Cedar Waxwing=: _Bombycilla cedrorum_ Vieillot.--This waxwing is a +rare, local, and highly irregular summer resident in northeastern +Kansas, in woodland and forest edge habitats. The known nesting +stations are in Wyandotte and Shawnee counties; six nests have been +found in the period 1949 to 1960. The species has been recorded in all +months. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and early July. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed four to 24 feet high in a variety of deciduous and +coniferous trees and shrubs. + + +=Loggerhead Shrike=: _Lanius ludovicianus_ Linnaeus.--This common +resident and summer resident favors open country with scattered shrubs +and thickets. _L. l. migrans_ Palmer occurs in eastern Kansas, west to +about the 96th meridian, and _L. l. excubitorides_ Grinnell occurs in +western Kansas, east to about the 100th meridian; populations of +intermediate character occupy central Kansas. These shrikes tend to be +resident in southern counties, but are migratory in the north. Dates +of spring arrival in Cloud County are between March 9 and 31 (the +median is March 21) and the birds leave southward between October 19 +and December 19 (the median is November 1). + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-seven records of breeding span the period +April 1 to June 30 (Fig. 7); the modal date for egg-laying is April +15. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.3, 4-7; 32). There is no +seasonal variation in the sample. + +Nests are placed about six feet high (ranging from four to 10 feet) in +osage orange, small pines, honeysuckle vines, and elm. + + +=Starling=: _Sturnus vulgaris_ Linnaeus.--This species is a common +resident in towns and around farms, foraging in open fields of various +kinds. Starlings (introduced into North America from European stocks +of _S. v. vulgaris_) first appeared in eastern Kansas in the early +1930s and were established as successful residents by 1935 or 1936. +Occupancy of Kansas to the west took only a few years. There are no +specimens taken in the breeding season or actual nesting records from +southwest of Ellis and Stafford counties; Starlings seem to be +resident in Cheyenne County, but no nesting record exists from there. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixty-seven records of breeding span the period +March 1 to June 30 (Fig. 7); the modal date for first clutches is +April 15, and for second clutches is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 4-8; 19). + +Nests are placed about 22 feet high (ranging from eight to 50 feet) in +crevices in elm, locust, hackberry, nestboxes placed by man, and in a +variety of other structures of man. + + +=Black-capped Vireo=: _Vireo atricapilla_ Woodhouse.--This was a +summer resident, apparently of limited distribution but in good +numbers, in Comanche County, in oak woodland and brushland edge. No +specimens have been taken in Kansas since 1885. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are probably laid in May and June. Goss +(1891:351) found a nest under construction on May 11, 1885, and this +is the only nesting record of the species in the State. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed low, perhaps around four feet high, in deciduous +trees and shrubs (Davie, _op. cit._). + + +=White-eyed Vireo=: _Vireo griseus noveboracensis_ (Gmelin).--This is +a local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in woodland and forest +edge. Stations of breeding occurrence are in Doniphan, Douglas, +Johnson, Anderson, Labette, and Montgomery counties. The species is +present within the extreme dates of April 23 to October 5 (Table 16). + +_Breeding schedule._--Ten records of breeding span the period May 10 +to June 30; the modal date for egg-laying is June 10. The present +sample is not adequate to indicate extreme or modal dates with +reasonable accuracy. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 5). + +Nests are placed relatively low in forks in trees and shrubs. + + +=Bell Vireo=: _Vireo bellii bellii_ Audubon.--This summer resident is +common in riparian thickets and second-growth scrub. Temporal +occurrence is indicated in Table 16. _Breeding schedule._--Sixty-six +records of breeding span the period May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 7); the +modal date for egg-laying is May 25, and a little under 40 per cent of +all eggs are laid in the period May 21-31. Renesting following +disruption of first nests is regular, and the small peak in the +histogram in the period June 11-20 is representative of this. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.6, 3-6; 21). Clutches in +May have an average of 3.7 eggs, and those in June and July 3.6 eggs. + +Nests are placed about two feet high (ranging from one to five feet) +in terminal or lateral forks of small branches in elm, hackberry, +osage orange, coralberry, dogwood, plum, honey locust, mulberry, +willow, cottonwood, and box elder. + + +=Yellow-throated Vireo=: _Vireo flavifrons_ Vieillot.--This is a rare +and local summer resident in deciduous forest and woodland in eastern +Kansas. Stations of breeding occurrence fall east of Shawnee and +Woodson counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 16. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed 16 to 30 feet high in forks of mature deciduous +trees. + + TABLE 16.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT VIREOS IN KANSAS + + =================+==========================+============================= + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + -----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + White-eyed Vireo | Apr. 23-May 25 | May 8 | Oct. 5 | + Bell Vireo | Apr. 14-May 20 | May 8 | Aug. 26-Sept. 27 | Sept. 6 + Yellow-throated | | | | + Vireo | Apr. 27-May 22 | May 7 | Aug. 23-Oct. 1 | Aug. 31 + Red-eyed Vireo | Apr. 21-May 10 | May 4 | Sept. 2-Oct. 7 | Sept. 10 + Warbling Vireo | Apr. 20-May 9 | Apr. 28 | Sept. 2-Oct. 6 | Sept. 9 + -----------------+----------------+---------+------------------+---------- + + +=Red-eyed Vireo=: _Vireo olivaceus olivaceus_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident is common in the east, but is local and less abundant in the +west, in woodland and deciduous forest. Temporal occurrence is +indicated in Table 16. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eight records of breeding fall in the period May +21 to July 31; most records of egg-laying are in the first week of +June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-5; 5). + +Nests are placed in forks of mature deciduous trees, usually fairly +high--perhaps 15 to 25 feet (Davie, 1898). + + +=Warbling Vireo=: _Vireo gilvus gilvus_ (Vieillot).--This summer +resident is common in woodland and forest edge. Temporal occurrence is +indicated in Table 16. + +_Breeding schedule._--Seventeen records of breeding span the period +May 1 to June 20, but it is likely that breeding later in June and +July will be recorded. The modal date for egg-laying is June 5, and +this seems to be a reliable index to the major effort in egg-laying in +spite of the small sample. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.6, 3-4; 5). Nests are +placed three to 25 feet high in a variety of deciduous shrubs and +trees. + + +=Black-and-white Warbler=: _Mniotilta varia_ (Linnaeus).--This local +and uncommon summer resident lives in deciduous forest and woodland. +Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of nesting +come from Doniphan, Douglas, Coffey, Greenwood, Sedgwick, Labette, and +Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence in the State is indicated in +Table 17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is around 5 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed on the ground, in depressions or niches, under heavy +cover. + + +=Prothonotary Warbler=: _Protonotaria citrea_ (Boddaert).--This is a +local summer resident in eastern Kansas, in understory of riparian +timber and swampy woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and +actual records of nesting come from Doniphan, Douglas, Linn, and +Cowley counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-two records of breeding span the period +May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is June 5, +and 75 per cent of all clutches are laid in the period June 1 to 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 15). + +Nests are placed in holes and niches in willow, red haw, elm, and a +variety of stumps, about eight feet high (ranging from five to 20 +feet), usually over water. A pair nested once in a gourd under the +eave of a house in Winfield, Cowley County, and another pair in a tin +cup on a shelf at a sawmill (Goss, ex Long, 1936). + + +=Parula Warbler=: _Parula americana_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident +in eastern Kansas usually can be found in heavy woodland and +flood-plain timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual +records of breeding come from Doniphan, Riley, Douglas, Montgomery, +Labette, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in +Table 17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least from mid-May to mid-June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed in debris in root tangles along stream banks, and, +presumably, in pendant arboreal lichens. + + +=Yellow Warbler=: _Dendroica petechia_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident +is common in the east, in woodland and riparian growths. _D. p. aestiva_ +(Gmelin) occupies eastern Kansas west at least to Barber County, but it +is not known how far west representatives of this population breed. _D. +p. morcomi_ Coale breeds in western Kansas. _D. p. sonorana_ Brewster, a +name applicable to Yellow Warblers of the southwestern United States and +northern Mexico, has been considered a "straggler" (Long, 1940) or +probable summer resident (Tordoff, 1956; Johnston, 1960) in southwestern +Kansas, on the basis of one specimen taken on June 24, 1911, at a point +two miles south of Wallace, Wallace County. This specimen, which is +pale, was identified in 1935 as _D. p. sonorana_ by H. C. Oberholser. +Specimens taken subsequently from Cheyenne, Hamilton, and Morton +counties in the breeding season can be referred adequately to _D. p. +morcomi_. Probably the specimen of 1911 is a pale variant of _D. p. +morcomi_ within its normal distributional range. _Breeding +schedule._--Thirty-five records of breeding span the period May 11 to +June 20 (Fig. 8); this probably is inadequate to show the extent of the +season, and some egg-laying into July is likely to be found in the +future. The modal date of egg-laying is May 25, and this is likely to be +reliable. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.2, 3-5; 29). + +Nests are placed about nine feet high (ranging from five to 20 feet) +in crotches of trees and shrubs including willow, elderberry, +cottonwood, crabapple, plum, and coralberry. + + +=Prairie Warbler=: _Dendroica discolor discolor_ (Vieillot).--This +rare, local summer resident occurs in deciduous second-growth. The +only breeding records are from Wyandotte and Johnson counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed low, perhaps about four feet high, in a wide variety +of small trees and shrubs. + + +=Louisiana Waterthrush=: _Seiurus motacilla_ (Vieillot).--This uncommon +to rare summer resident in eastern Kansas lives in woodland understory +near streams. Nesting records come from Douglas, Miami, Linn, and +Crawford counties. Wolfe (1961) reports he found a nest with young near +Oberlin, Decatur County, on June 10, 1910, under an overhanging bank of +Sappa Creek; Decatur County is some 250 miles west of the present +western limit of the breeding range of the Louisiana Waterthrush, and +western habitats are not favorable for their occurrence. Temporal +characteristics of their distribution are indicated in Table 17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed in concealed places in banks or stumps always where +it is wet. + + TABLE 17.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT WOOD WARBLERS + IN KANSAS + + ==================+=========================+============================= + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +----------------+--------+------------------+---------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + ------------------+----------------+--------+------------------+---------- + Black-and-white | | | | + Warbler | Apr. 2-May 12 | May 5 | Sept. 10-Oct. 14 | Sept. 22 + Prothonotary | | | | + Warbler | Apr. 24-May 25 | May 8 | Aug. 6-Sept. 10 | Aug. 22 + Parula Warbler | Apr. 6-May 5 | Apr. 23| Sept. 12-Oct. 7 | Sept. 18 + Yellow Warbler | Apr. 21-May 7 | Apr. 30| Aug. 28-Oct. 1 | Sept. 4 + Louisiana | | | | + Waterthrush | Apr. 2-May 2 | Apr. 16| Aug. ? | + Kentucky Warbler | Apr. 24-May 15 | May 3 | Sept. 13 | + Yellowthroat | Apr. 21-May 10 | May 3 | Sept. 8-Oct. 3 | Sept. 17 + Yellow-breasted | | | | + Chat | Apr. 29-May 19 | May 11 | Aug. 29-Oct. 1 | Sept. 8 + American Redstart | Apr. 22-May 20 | May 12 | Sept. 1-Oct. 7 | Sept. 10 + ------------------+----------------+--------+------------------+---------- + + +=Kentucky Warbler=: _Oporornis formosus_ (Wilson).--This is an +uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in deciduous forest and +woodland. Specimens taken in the breeding season and actual records of +nesting come from Riley, Doniphan, Douglas, Leavenworth, Linn, +Montgomery, and Labette counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in +Table 17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 or 5 eggs. + +Nests are placed near or on the ground, usually at the base of small +shrubs or clumps of grass. + + +=Yellowthroat=: _Geothlypis trichas_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident +in and near marshes is common in the east and is local and somewhat +less common in the west. _G. t. brachydactylus_ (Swainson) breeds east +of stations in Clay, Greenwood, and Montgomery counties, _G. t. +occidentalis_ Brewster breeds west of stations in Decatur, Stafford, +and Pratt counties, and the intervening area is occupied by warblers +of intermediate morphologic characters. Temporal occurrence is +indicated in Table 17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Nine records of breeding span the period May 11 +to June 10; the modal date of egg-laying is June 1. The season is +probably more extended in time than is indicated by the available +records. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-5; 6). + +Nests are placed in cattails and sedges one to two and one-half feet +high. + + +=Yellow-breasted Chat=: _Icteria virens_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident is common in willow thickets and rank second-growth. _I. v. +virens_ (Linnaeus) breeds in eastern Kansas, from Nemaha County south, +_I. v. auricollis_ (Deppe) breeds in western Kansas, from Norton +County south, and the intervening sector is occupied by chats of +intermediate morphologic character. Temporal occurrence is indicated +in Table 17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-six records of breeding span the period +May 11 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for completion of clutches +is June 5. Forty-two per cent of all eggs are laid in the period June +1 to 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.9, 3-5; 21). Clutches in +May are larger than those in June and July. + +Nests are placed in forks and crotches about three feet high in +dogwood, willow, rose, coralberry, cottonwood, and thistles. + + +=Hooded Warbler=: _Wilsonia citrina_ (Boddaert).--This warbler is a +rare summer resident in eastern Kansas, in wet, open woodland. +Specimens (a total of four) taken in the breeding season are from +Leavenworth and Shawnee counties, and the one nesting record is from +Anderson County. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid at least in May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are low (some as high as six feet) in woody vegetation. + + +=American Redstart=: _Setophaga ruticilla ruticilla_ (Linnaeus).--This +summer resident occurs locally in woodlands east from stations in +Cloud and Sumner Counties. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table +17. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898), but +there are two records of 5 in Kansas. Nests are placed six to 30 feet +high, but usually about 12 feet, in forks or saddled on a branch, in +deciduous trees. + + [Illustration: FIG. 8.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of wood warblers, the House Sparrow, icterids, and + cardinal grosbeaks in Kansas. See legend to Figure 1 for + explanation of histograms.] + + +=House Sparrow=: _Passer domesticus_ (Linnaeus).--This sparrow, +introduced from stocks in Ohio and New York (originally from England +and Germany), has been present since about 1876 in eastern Kansas; it +is a common resident in towns and at farmsteads throughout the state. + +Nomenclaturally, House Sparrows in North America consistently have +been referred to the European ancestral stocks, _P. d. domesticus_, +but none in North America today duplicates morphologically the +European birds. This is evidence of meaningful adaptation of the North +American populations to environments in which they now live, and +continued use of _P. d. domesticus_ is misleading. Studies on local +differentiation in North American House Sparrows are in progress, and +when the biology of sparrows in the midwest is better understood, +suitable nomenclatural proposals will be made. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of breeding span the period +March 20 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying of first +clutches is April 5, and for second clutches May 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (3.9, 3-7; 13). + +Nests are placed in niches of various sorts seven to 50 feet high in +buildings, nestboxes, and trees, or freely situated in forks and +crotches of large trees. + + +=Bobolink=: _Dolichonyx oryzivorus_ (Linnaeus).--This species is a +rare and local summer resident, in and about grassy meadows. There are +but two stations of breeding in Kansas: Jamestown State Lake, Cloud +County, and Big Salt Marsh, Stafford County. Temporal occurrence is +indicated in Table 18. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the ground amidst grasses. + + +=Eastern Meadowlark=: _Sturnella magna_ (Linnaeus).--This summer +resident and resident is common in eastern Kansas, in moist grassland. +_S. m. argutula_ Bangs occurs in Montgomery, Labette, and Cherokee +counties and intergrades to the north and west with _S. m. magna_ +(Linnaeus). Good numbers of birds are found east of the Flint Hills, +but to the west the species is of restricted and local distribution. +Extreme outliers of the species are found no farther west than +stations in Jewell, Stafford, and Barber counties. + +_Breeding schedule._--Forty records of breeding span the period April +10 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5. +Fifty-seven per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 1 to 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (5.2, 4-7; 26). Prior to May +11, clutch-size is 5.3 eggs (13 records), and after that date it is +5.1 eggs (13 records). + +Nests are placed on the ground, with cover of grasses or forbs. + + +=Western Meadowlark=: _Sturnella neglecta neglecta_ (Audubon).--This +is a common resident and summer resident in western Kansas, and is +restricted and local in the east; preferred habitat is in grassy +uplands. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-three records of breeding span the period +April 10 to July 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5 +for first nests and June 5 for second nests. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.3, 3-6; 16). + +Nests are placed on the ground with cover of grasses or forbs. + + +=Yellow-headed Blackbird=: _Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus_ +(Bonaparte).--This uncommon and local summer resident occurs chiefly +in the west, in marshes. Nesting records are from Wallace, Meade, +Barton, Stafford, Doniphan, and Douglas counties. Temporal occurrence +is indicated in Table 18. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fifty-one records of breeding span the period +May 20 to June 30; the modal date of egg-laying is June 5. The sample +is probably not large enough to be wholly reliable. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed within a few feet of water in cattail, rush, sedge, +and willow. + + +=Red-winged Blackbird=: _Agelaius phoeniceus_ (Linnaeus).--This is a +common summer resident in marshes, wet pasture, and scrubby parkland +throughout the State. _A. p. phoeniceus_ (Linnaeus) occurs in most of +Kansas and _A. p. fortis_ (Ridgway) occurs in the west, east to about +Decatur County. A few birds can be found in eastern Kansas in winter; +the full breeding population is present between April and October. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 109 records of breeding in Cloud County span +the period May 1 to July 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying is May +25, and 71 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to June +10. Eighty-eight records of breeding from northwestern Kansas make a +histogram almost exactly duplicating the one from Cloud County. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size at Concordia, Cloud County, is 4 eggs +(3.7, 3-5; 48); in northeastern Kansas mean clutch-size is 3.7 eggs +(3-5; 46). For the total sample, mean clutch-size in May is 4.0 eggs, +in June, 3.7 eggs, and in July, 3.3 eggs. + +Nests are placed about four feet high (one to nine feet) in willow, +cattail, sedge, grass, elm, exotic conifer, elderberry, coralberry, +buttonbrush, honeysuckle, smartweed, ash, osage orange, and yellow +clover. + +In central Kansas red-wings are host to the Brown-headed Cowbird in a +frequency of one parasitized nest out of nine; in northeastern Kansas +the ratio is 1:25. + + TABLE 18.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT ICTERIDS IN KANSAS + + =================+===========================+============================ + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + -----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + Bobolink | May 4-May 21 | May 11 | Aug. 28-Oct. 1 | Sept. 12 + Yellow-headed | | | | + Blackbird | Mar. 31-Apr. 29 | Apr. 19 | Sept. 19-Oct. 18 | Sept. 24 + Orchard Oriole | Apr. 25-May 14 | May 4 | Aug. 5-Sept. 15 | Aug. 9 + Baltimore Oriole | Apr. 24-May 5 | Apr. 29 | Sept. 6-Sept. 29 | Sept. 10 + Common Grackle | Mar. 2-Mar. 27 | Mar. 17 | Oct. 15-Nov. 14 | Oct. 31 + -----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + + +=Orchard Oriole=: _Icterus spurius_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident +is common in parkland, woodland, and old second-growth. Temporal +occurrence is indicated in Table 18. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 118 records of breeding span the period May +11 to August 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for completion of clutches is +June 5, and 45 per cent of all eggs are laid in the first ten days of +June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-6; 41). Clutches laid +at the peak of the season average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 26), and replacement +clutches average 3.8 eggs (3-4; 9). Nests are hung about 15 feet high +(ranging from six to 55 feet) in elm, cottonwood, hackberry, locust, +catalpa, willow, alder, osage orange, walnut, pear, linden, and ash. + + +=Baltimore Oriole=: _Icterus galbula_ (Linnaeus).--This common summer +resident is most numerous in the east, in woodland and riparian +timber. The species hybridizes freely with the Bullock Oriole in +western Kansas, and individuals morphologically typical of Baltimore +Orioles are rare west of the 100th meridian. Evidence of such +hybridization can be found in specimens taken in eastern Kansas, but +the linear nature of distribution along water-courses to the west +restricts gene-flow, and evident hybrids are not yet conspicuous. +Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 18. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eighty-three records of breeding span the period +May 11 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date of egg-laying is June 5, +and 66 per cent of all eggs are laid between May 21 and June 10. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs. + +Nests are hung about 24 feet high (ranging from nine to 70 feet) in +elm, cottonwood, sycamore, maple, and oak. + + +=Bullock Oriole=: _Icterus bullockii_ (Swainson).--This summer +resident is common in western Kansas in woodland and riparian +situations. The species hybridizes freely with the Baltimore Oriole, +and most Bullock Orioles in Kansas show evidence of such +interbreeding. Almost all records of breeding come from west of the +100th meridian, but the species in recognizable form probably breeds +locally at least as far east as Stafford County. + +_Breeding schedule._--Few nesting records are available, but these +suggest that the breeding schedule of the Bullock Oriole resembles +those of the preceding two species in Kansas. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are hung about 26 feet high (ranging from 10 to 50 feet) in +cottonwood, elm, and other large trees. + + +=Common Grackle=: _Quiscalus quiscula versicolor_ Vieillot.--This +summer resident is common in parkland, and around towns and farms. +Most individuals move out of Kansas in winter, and the temporal +occurrence of these birds is indicated in Table 18. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 233 records of breeding span the period +April 11 to June 30 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is May 5, +and two-thirds of all eggs are laid between May 1 and May 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.5, 3-6; 33). Clutches laid +at the peak of the season average 4.7 eggs (3-6; 21), and those laid +as replacement clutches average 4.3 eggs (3-6; 12). + +Nests are placed in forks and crotches about 22 feet high (ranging +from six to 50 feet) in elm, red cedar, cottonwood, oak, box elder, +and pine. + + +=Brown-headed Cowbird=: _Molothrus ater ater_ (Boddaert).--Many +individuals of this common summer resident overwinter in the southern +part of the State and it is difficult to determine dates of arrival +and departure in Kansas. Conspicuous abundance in the north covers the +period April to October. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 141 instances of egg-laying span the period +April 21 to July 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date of laying is May 15, and +53 per cent of all eggs are laid in the period May 11 to June 10. +Inception of laying is here fairly reliably indicated, but in +exceptionally early springs laying does occur earlier; a few eggs were +found on April 6, 1963, too late for incorporation into this report +other than in this sentence. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size in cowbirds is not readily determined. +On the basis of ovarian examination of five females taken in +mid-season, the birds here lay about five eggs at a time. There is no +question that the birds are "double-brooded" in Kansas, and the season +is sufficiently long for as many as five "clutches" to be laid by a +given female. + +Eggs are laid in nests of some forty species of birds in Kansas; 39 of +these are passerines. No preference for any one species is detectable; +the most frequently parasitized species are simply the common species, +and these are the kinds for which nesting records are easily gathered +by man. In the following list of host species, the names marked with +an asterisk are the conspicuously parasitized species. + +Mourning Dove, Eastern Kingbird, Eastern Phoebe,* Say Phoebe,* Acadian +Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Horned Lark, Carolina Wren, Rock Wren, Brown +Thrasher,* Mockingbird, Catbird, Wood Thrush,* Eastern Bluebird, +Yellow-throated Vireo, Bell Vireo,* White-eyed Vireo,* Parula Warbler, +Yellow Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Louisiana +Waterthrush, Yellow-breasted Chat, Yellowthroat, Eastern Meadowlark, +Western Meadowlark, Red-winged Blackbird,* Orchard Oriole,* Cardinal,* +Black-headed Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting,* Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel,* Pine +Siskin,* Rufous-sided Towhee,* Grasshopper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow,* +Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow.* + + +=Scarlet Tanager=: _Piranga olivacea_ (Gmelin).--This rare summer +resident in northeastern Kansas occurs in deciduous forest and +bottomland timber. Specimens taken in the breeding season and records +of nesting come from Clay, Doniphan, Douglas, Wyandotte, Johnson, and +Linn counties, but the species probably occupies the entire eastern +third of the State. Dates of arrival in spring are from April 29 to +May 25 (the median is May 11), and dates of departure in autumn are +from August 4 to September 23 (the median is August 10). + +_Breeding schedule._--Six records of breeding fall in the period May +11 to June 20. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed 20 to 35 feet high in elm, linden, hickory, and +walnut. + + +=Summer Tanager=: _Piranga rubra rubra_ (Linnaeus).--This uncommon +summer resident in eastern Kansas occurs in woodland. Specimens taken +in the breeding season and records of nesting come from east of +stations in Doniphan, Shawnee, and Montgomery counties. Dates of +arrival in spring run from April 24 to May 18 (the median is April +29), and the species departs southward in September and October. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of egg-laying cover the period +May 21 to July 20; the modal date for laying is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are situated ten to 20 feet high on horizontal limbs of large +trees. + + +=Cardinal=: _Richmondena cardinalis cardinalis_ (Linnaeus).--This +species is a common resident in eastern Kansas, west to about the 99th +meridian; west of this line the species becomes local and uncommon to +rare. Habitat in the east is found in woodland, edge, second-growth and +open riparian timber, and in the west the species is restricted to +riparian growths, chiefly along the Republican, Solomon, Smoky Hill, +Arkansas, and Cimarron rivers, and their larger tributaries. + +_Breeding schedule._--The 117 records of breeding span the period +April 1 to September 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for laying of first +clutches is May 1, subsequent to which breeding activity is regular +but asynchronous. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.5, 3-6; 65). Seasonal +variation in clutch-size is as follows: + + Date Mean clutch-size Number of records + + April 1-20 3.0 6 + April 21-May 10 3.8 25 + May 11-May 31 3.3 15 + June 1-June 20 3.6 11 + June 21-July 20 3.3 7 + +Nests are placed about five feet high (ranging from 10 inches to 40 +feet) in osage orange, elm, grape, rose, red cedar, coralberry, +willow, cottonwood, gooseberry, oak, elderberry, box elder, arbor +vitae, Lombardy poplar, Forsythia, pines, honeysuckle, wisteria, +lilac, red haw, hickory, dogwood, and sycamore. + + +=Rose-breasted Grosbeak=: _Pheucticus ludovicianus_ (Linnaeus).--This +is a local and at times common summer resident in eastern Kansas, in +woodland, edge, and riparian timber. Specimens taken in the breeding +season and actual records of breeding come from Clay, Riley, Doniphan, +Leavenworth, and Douglas counties. This species meets and hybridizes +with the Black-headed Grosbeak west of the Flint Hills. Temporal +occurrence in the State is indicated in Table 19. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eleven records of breeding span the period May +11 to July 10; the modal date for laying is probably June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 or 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed in deciduous trees, in forks and crotches six to 30 +feet high. + + +=Black-headed Grosbeak=: _Pheucticus mehnocephalus melanocephalus_ +(Swainson).--This summer resident is common in western Kansas, chiefly +along streams. Individuals referable to this species by sight records +alone breed in fair numbers as far east as Cloud and Sedgwick +counties, but to the east of these stations numbers are reduced, +partly as a result of presumed competition with the Rose-breasted +Grosbeak. Hybrids between these two grosbeaks are regularly produced. +The easternmost record of breeding by this species is at St. Mary's, +Pottawatomie County, where a male was seen as probably mated with a +female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Temporal occurrence is indicated in +Table 19. + +_Breeding schedule._--Sixteen records of breeding span the period May +11 to July 10; the modal date for egg-laying is June 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (3.7, 3-4; 4). Nests +are placed about 12 feet high in a variety of deciduous trees. + + +=Blue Grosbeak=: _Guiraca caerulea_ (Linnaeus).--This is a common to +uncommon summer resident in most of Kansas, in brushland and streamside +thickets. _G. c. caerulea_ (Linnaeus) breeds in the east, east of +stations in Douglas, Greenwood, and Cowley counties, and _G. c. +interfusa_ Dwight and Griscom breeds in the west, west of stations in +Cloud, Stafford, and Clark counties; a broad zone of intergradation +exists between the two named populations. Temporal occurrence is +indicated in Table 19. + +_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding span the period May 21 to +June 30; the modal date of laying seems to be in late May or early June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed from three to 30 feet high in a variety of deciduous +plants. + + TABLE 19.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT CARDINAL + GROSBEAKS IN KANSAS + + =================+=========================+============================= + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +----------------+--------+------------------+---------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + -----------------+----------------+--------+------------------+---------- + Rose-breasted | | | | + Grosbeak | Apr. 25-May 5 | May 2 | Sept. 4-Oct. 1 | Sept. 13 + Black-headed | | | | + Grosbeak | Apr. 26-May 11 | May 5 | Aug. 17-Sept. 18 | Sept. 2 + Blue Grosbeak | Apr. 25-May 26 | May 13 | Aug. 15-Sept. 3 | Aug. 27 + Indigo Bunting | Apr. 20-May 15 | May 6 | Aug. 23-Oct. 31 | Oct. 1 + Lazuli Bunting | May 5-May 24 | May 10 | | + Painted Bunting | Apr. 30-May 25 | May 9 | | + Dickcissel | Apr. 21-May 10 | May 4 | Sept. 7-Oct. 11 | Sept. 18 + -----------------+----------------+--------+------------------+---------- + + +=Indigo Bunting=: _Passerina cyanea_ (Linnaeus).--This summer resident +is common in mixed-field and heavy brushland habitats. The species +extends westerly, in riparian situations, in reduced numbers, +ultimately meeting and hybridizing with the Lazuli Bunting. Specimens +referrable to the Indigo Bunting have been taken as far west as Finney +County, but most specimens from that far west show evidence of +interbreeding with Lazuli Buntings. Temporal occurrence is indicated +in Table 19. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-four records of breeding span the period +May 11 to August 20 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying is June +15. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 3 eggs (3.1, 2-4; 17). + +Nests are placed about three feet high (ranging from one to nine feet) +in coralberry, sumac, thistle, sycamore sprouts, hickory sprouts, +grape, elderberry, cottonwood, dogwood, ragweed, and grasses. + + +=Lazuli Bunting=: _Passerina amoena_ (Say).--This uncommon summer +resident of western Kansas occurs in edge habitats and streamside +thickets. The one breeding record is from Morton County, and there is +a breeding specimen taken at Sharon Springs, Wallace County. The +species hybridizes with the Indigo Bunting in the western half of the +State. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in Table 19. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and July. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed a few feet from the ground, probably much as are +nests of the Indigo Bunting. + + +=Painted Bunting=: _Passerina ciris pallidior_ Mearns.--This is an +uncommon summer resident in the southeastern third of Kansas, in edge +habitats and streamside brush. Specimens taken in the breeding season +and actual nesting records come from Douglas, Shawnee, Geary, Barber, +and Crawford counties. Temporal occurrence in spring is indicated in +Table 19. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in June and July. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (Davie, 1898). + +Nests are placed in deciduous shrubs and trees. + + +=Dickcissel=: _Spiza americana_ (Gmelin).--This species is a common +summer resident in eastern Kansas and is local and irregular in the +west, in grassland habitats. Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table +19. + +_Breeding schedule._--Forty-one records of breeding span the period +May 1 to July 10 (Fig. 8); the modal date for egg-laying seems to be +May 5, but the curiously abrupt inception of breeding described by +this sample suggests that more records are needed to document fully +the breeding schedule of this species. Breeding in April almost +certainly will be found. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 14). + +Nests are placed about two feet high (ranging from ground level to 12 +feet) in grasses, osage orange, sedge, box elder, honey locust, +clover, thistle, and blackberry. + + +=Pine Siskin=: _Spinus pinus pinus_ (Wilson).--This irregular summer +resident occurs locally north of the 38th parallel, chiefly around +planted conifers. Known stations of breeding are in Hays, Ellis +County, Concordia, Cloud County, and Onaga and St. Marys, Pottawatomie +County. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period March +11 to May 20 (Fig. 9); most nests have been established in late April +or by early May. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. Of ten nests examined +for eggs, five had at least one egg of the Brown-headed Cowbird; if it +is assumed that each cowbird egg replaced one of the siskins, mean +clutch-size is 3.7 eggs. + +Nests are placed about seven feet high (ranging from 3.5 to 13 feet) +in red cedar, exotic conifers, and Lombardy poplar. + + +=American Goldfinch=: _Spinus tristis tristis_ (Linnaeus).--This +resident is common in woodland edge, scrubby second-growth, old +fields, and riparian thickets. Occurrence tends to be local and at low +density in the southwestern sector. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twelve records of breeding span the period June +20 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for laying is August 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.4, 3-6; 8). + +Nests are placed from two to eight feet high in woody or herbaceous +vegetation. + + +=Red Crossbill=: _Loxia curvirostra_ Linnaeus.--This is an uncommon +and irregular winter visitant to Kansas, but it nested once in Shawnee +County. _L. c. minor_ (Brehm), on geographic grounds, probably nested +here, but five other subspecies have been recorded in the State and +any one of these might have undertaken the aberrant breeding. + +_Breeding record._--Three eggs, set completed March 24, 1917, Shawnee +County; successfully fledged (Hyde, 1917:166). The species usually +lays 4 eggs and places its nests in conifers. + + +=Rufous-sided Towhee=: _Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus_ +(Linnaeus).--This is an uncommon summer resident in eastern Kansas, in +understory of woodland and streamside timber. Specimens taken in the +breeding season and actual records of nesting come from east of +stations in Cloud, Marion, and Cherokee counties. Temporal occurrence +is indicated in Table 20; records of _P. e. arcticus_ (Swainson) have +been eliminated from the sample as far as has been possible. + +_Breeding schedule._--Nineteen records of breeding span the period +April 21 to August 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is May +5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.0, 3-7; 14). + +Nests are placed on the ground, in heavy cover. + + [Illustration: FIG. 9.--Histograms representing breeding + schedules of cardueline and emberizine finches in Kansas. See + legend to Figure 1 for explanation of histograms.] + + +=Lark Bunting=: _Calamospiza melanocorys_ Stejneger.--This species is +ordinarily a common summer resident in western Kansas, in grassland +and open scrub. Specimens taken in the breeding season and all +breeding records except one for western Franklin County come from west +of stations in Decatur, Ellis, and Comanche counties. Irregular +fluctuations in breeding density have been recorded from Decatur +County (Wolfe, 1961). Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20. + +_Breeding schedule._--Fourteen records of breeding span the period May +21 to June 20; the modal date of egg-laying cannot be determined from +the present sample. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 7). + +Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of clumps of grasses. + + +=Grasshopper Sparrow=: _Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus_ +(Coues).--This species is a local and at times common summer resident +throughout Kansas, in grassland. Temporal occurrence is indicated in +Table 20. + +_Breeding schedule._--Seven records of breeding fall in the period May +1 to June 30; the modal date of laying seems to be about May 21. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 5 eggs (4.8, 4-5; 5). + +Nests are placed on the ground or in low vegetation, with cover of +grasses or forbs. + + +=Henslow Sparrow=: _Passerherbulus henslowii henslowii_ +(Audubon).--This is an uncommon and local summer resident in eastern +Kansas, in grassland. Breeding records are from Cloud, Shawnee, +Douglas, Morris, and Anderson counties. Temporal occurrence is +indicated in Table 20. + +_Breeding schedule._--Eggs are laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 5 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the ground, usually in bluestem pasture, but in +any case grasses. + + +=Lark Sparrow=: _Chondestes grammacus_ (Say).--This is a common summer +resident in grassland edge habitats. _C. g. grammacus_ (Say) breeds +east of the Flint Hills, east of stations in Pottawatomie, Anderson, +and Montgomery counties, and _C. g. strigatus_ Swainson breeds west of +stations in Clay, Dickinson, Harvey, and Sedgwick counties; specimens +from the intervening area are of intermediate subspecific character. +Temporal occurrence is indicated in Table 20. + +_Breeding schedule._--Thirty-nine records of breeding span the period +May 1 to July 20 (Fig. 9); the modal date for egg-laying is probably +May 25, but the sample may not be reliable in this respect. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 28). + +Nests are usually placed on the ground, in cover of pasture grasses, +clover, thistle, milo maize, and soybean; there is one record of a +nest one and one-half feet high in a small pine. + + +=Cassin Sparrow=: _Aimophila cassinii_ (Woodhouse).--This is a common +summer resident in open scrub and grassland edge, to the south and +west of Wallace and Comanche counties. Specimens taken in the breeding +season and actual nesting records are from Wallace, Hamilton, Kearny, +Finney, Morton, and Comanche counties; the A. O. U. Check-list (1957) +cites Hays, Ellis County, as a breeding locality, but it is doubtful +that the species now occurs there. _Breeding schedule._--Eggs are +laid in May and June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is about 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed on the ground, at bases of small bushes. + + TABLE 20.--OCCURRENCE IN TIME OF SUMMER RESIDENT AMERICAN + BUNTINGS IN KANSAS + + =================+===========================+============================ + | Arrival | Departure + SPECIES +-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + | Range | Median | Range | Median + -----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + Rufous-sided | | | | + Towhee | Apr. 2-Apr. 19 | Apr. 9 | Sept. 20-Oct. 8 | Sept. 29 + Lark Bunting | May 5-May 14 | May 10 | | + Grasshopper | | | | + Sparrow | Apr. 12-May 11 | Apr. 29 | Aug. 20-Oct. 6 | Aug. 31 + Henslow Sparrow | Apr. 14-Apr. 30 | Apr. 22 | Oct. 15 | + Lark Sparrow | Mar. 29-Apr. 21 | Apr. 18 | Sept. 13-Oct. 16 | Oct. 12 + Chipping Sparrow | Mar. 6-Apr. 29 | Apr. 23 | Oct. 3-Nov. 15 | Oct. 20 + Field Sparrow | Mar. 4-Apr. 28 | Apr. 7 | Oct. 5-Nov. 12 | Oct. 30 + -----------------+-----------------+---------+------------------+--------- + + +=Chipping Sparrow=: _Spizella passerina passerina_ (Bechstein).--This is +an uncommon summer resident in open woodland, second-growth, and edge. +_S. p. passerina_ is found east of stations in Barber and Shawnee +counties; Chipping Sparrows are not known to breed farther to the west, +but records for north-central Kansas are likely to be found. The +subspecific affinities of our Chipping Sparrows are entirely with the +nominate subspecies, and there is no basis for earlier reports (Long, +1940; Tordoff, 1956; Johnston, 1960) that _S. p. arizonae_ Coues (= _S. +p. boreophila_ Oberholser) occurs in Kansas. + +_Breeding schedule._--Nine records of breeding fall in the period May 1 +to May 10, in no way indicating the whole span of the breeding season; +the species probably lays eggs in May and July, as well as in June. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs. + +Nests are placed four to 40 feet high in evergreens of a variety of +kinds. + + +=Field Sparrow=: _Spizella pusilla_ (Wilson).--This species is a common +summer resident in grassland and edge habitats. _S. p. pusilla_ (Wilson) +breeds in eastern Kansas chiefly east of the Flint Hills; _S. p. +arenacea_ Chadbourne breeds in central and western Kansas, intergrading +easterly with _S. p. pusilla_. + +_Breeding schedule._--Twenty-nine records of breeding span the period +April 21 to September 10 (Fig. 9); the modal date for first clutches is +May 5. + +_Number of eggs._--Clutch-size is 4 eggs (4.1, 3-5; 21). + +Nests are placed about 10 inches high (ranging from ground level to +three feet) in or among coralberry, osage orange, elm, oak, rose, and, +once, peony. + + +=Chestnut-collared Longspur=: _Calcarius ornatus_ (Townsend).--This was +formerly a summer resident in western Kansas, in short-grass habitat. +The only known nesting area was in the vicinity of Ft. Hays, Ellis +County. The species is to be looked for in prairie with short grass type +of vegetation. + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENTS + + +Many persons have contributed field observations such as dates of +arrival and departure for migrants, and the various activities of the +breeding cycle for most of the species here discussed. An alphabetic +listing of their names follows. + +Galen Abbot, Ruth Abbot, Ted Anderson, Ted F. Andrews, Jon Barlow, +Amelia Betts, Grace Thompson Bigelow, L. C. Binford, Bessie Boso, +William J. Brecheisen, J. Walker Butin, L. B. Carson, Mrs. Eunice +Dingus, Charles S. Edwards, A. S. Gaunt, Sue Griffith, Mrs. Mary F. +Hall, J. W. Hardy, Stanley Hunter, Katherine Kelley, E. E. Klaas, W. C. +Kerfoot, John A. Knouse, Eugene Lewis, Eulalia Lewis, John Lenz, Nathan +H. McDonald, Marno McKaughan, Merrill McHenry, Robert M. Mengel, Robert +Merz, Jim Myers, Mary Louise Myers, Mrs. Kathryn Nelson, T. W. Nelson, +Steven Norris, Dan Michener, P. W. Ogilvie, Gary C. Packard, Mrs. Marion +J. Mengel, Dwight Platt, William Reynolds, Frank Robl, S. D. Roth, Jr., +Nancy Saunders, Richard H. Schmidt, Marvin D. Schwilling, T. M. Sperry, +Steve Stephens, Max Thompson, Fr. Matthew Turk, Emil Urban, J. W. +Wallace, H. E. Warfel, A. W. Wiens, Mrs. Joyce Wildenthal, George Young, +and Richard Zenger. + + + + +LITERATURE CITED + + + ALDOUS, S. E. + + 1942. The white-necked raven in relation to agriculture. U. S. + Fish and Wildlife Serv., Research Rep. 5:1-56. + + + AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION, CHECK-LIST COMMITTEE + + 1957. Check-list of North American Birds (Lord Baltimore Press, + Baltimore), xiii + 691 Pp. + + + BAKER, J. R. + + 1938. The relation between latitude and breeding season in birds. + Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 108 (A):557-582. + + + BROWN, F. A., JR. + + 1960. Response to pervasive geophysical factors and the + biological clock problem. Cold Spring Harbor Symp. Quant. + Biol., 25:57-71. + + + COCKRUM, E. L., JR. + + 1952. Mammals of Kansas. Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist., + 7:1-303. + + + DAVIE, O. + + 1898. Nests and eggs of North American birds (David McKay, + Philadelphia). (vi) + 509 Pp. + + + DAVIS, T. A. W. + + 1953. An outline of the ecology and breeding seasons of birds of + the lowland forest region of British Guiana. + Ibis, 95:450-467. + + + FITCH, H. S. + + 1958. Home ranges, territories, and seasonal movements of + vertebrates of the Natural History Reservation. Univ. + Kansas Publ. Mus. Nat. Hist., 11:63-326. + + + GOODRICH, A. L., JR. + + 1946. Birds in Kansas. Rept. Kansas State Brd. Agric, 44(267): + 1-340. + + + GOSS, N. S. + + 1891. History of the birds of Kansas (G. W. Crane Co., Topeka). + 692 Pp. + + + GRABER, R., AND GRABER, J. + + 1951. Notes on the birds of southwestern Kansas. Trans. Kansas + Acad. Sci., 54:145-174. + + + HARDY, J. W. + + 1961. Purple martins nesting in city buildings. Wilson Bull., + 73:281. + + HOPKINS, A. D. + + 1938. Bioclimatics, ... U. S. Dept. Agric., Misc. Publ. + 280:iv + 188 Pp. + + + JOHNSTON, R. F. + + 1954. Variation in breeding season and clutch-size in song + sparrows of the Pacific coast. Condor, 56:268-273. + + 1956. Population structure in salt marsh song sparrows, + I. Condor, 58:24-44. + + 1960. Directory to the bird-life of Kansas. Univ. Kansas Publ. + Mus. Nat. Hist., Misc. Publ. 23:1-69. + + + LACK, D. + + 1947. The significance of clutch-size, I, II. Ibis, 89:302-352. + + + LONG, W. S. + + 1940. Check-list of Kansas birds. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci., + 43:433-456. + + + LEHRMAN, D. S. + + 1958. Induction of broodiness by participation in courtship and + nestbuilding in the ring dove (_Streptopelia risoria_). + Jour. Comp. Physiol. Psychol., 51:32-36. + + + LEHRMAN, D. S., BRODY, P. N., and WORTIS, R. P. + + 1961. The presence of the mate and of nesting material as stimuli + for the development of incubation behavior and for + gonadotropin in the ring dove (_Streptopelia risoria_). + Endocrinol., 68:507-516. + + + LINSDALE, J. M. + + 1926. The magpie nesting in Kansas. Condor, 28:179-180. + + 1928. Birds of a limited area in eastern Kansas. Univ. Kansas + Sci. Bull., 18:517-626. + + 1937. The natural history of magpies. Pac. Coast Avif., + 25:1-234. + + + MARSHALL, A. J., and DISNEY, H. J. de S. + + 1957. Experimental induction of the breeding season in a + xerophilous bird. Nature, 177:143-144. + + + MAYR, E. + + 1946. History of the North American bird fauna. Wilson Bull., + 38:3-41. + + + MCCABE, T. T., and MCCABE, E. B. + + 1933. Notes on the anatomy and breeding habits of crossbills. + Condor, 35:136-147. + + + MILLER, A. H. + + 1955_a_. The expression of innate reproductive rhythm under + conditions of winter lighting. Auk, 72:260-264. + + 1955_b_. Breeding cycles in a constant equatorial environment in + Columbia, South America. Proc. XI Congr. Internat. + Ornithol., Basel, 1954: 495-503. + + 1960. Adaptation of breeding schedule to latitude. Proc. XII + Congr. Internat. Ornithol., Helsinki, 1958:513-522. + + + MOREAU, R. E. + + 1950. The breeding seasons of African birds, I. Land birds. + Ibis, 92:223-267. + + + NICE, M. M. + + 1937. Studies in the life history of the song sparrow, I. Trans. + Linnean Soc. New York, 4:1-247. + + + NOSSAMAN, L. O. + + 1952. [Photograph] _in_ "Kansas Fish and Game," 9(3):7. + + + PARMELEE, D. + + 1961. A nesting colony of black terns in Kansas. Bull. Kansas + Ornith. Soc., 12:25-27. + + + PAYNTER, R. A., JR. + + 1954. Interrelations between clutch-size, brood-size, prefledging + survival and weight in Kent Island tree swallows, + I. Bird-Banding, 25:35-58. + + SCHMIDT-KOENIG, K. + + 1960. The sun azimuth compass: one factor in the orientation of + homing pigeons. Science, 131:826-828. + + + SNOW, D. W. + + 1955. The breeding of blackbird, song thrush, and mistle thrush + in Great Britain. I. Clutch-size. Bird Study, 2:72-84. + + + TORDOFF, H. B. + + 1956. Check-list of the birds of Kansas. Univ. Kansas Publ. Mus. + Nat. Hist, 8:307-359. + + + UDVARDY, M. D. F. + + 1958. Ecological and distributional analysis of North American + birds. Condor, 60:50-66. + + + WELTER, W. A. + + 1935. The natural history of the long-billed marsh wren. Wilson + Bull., 97:1-34. + + + WIENER, N. + + 1958. Nonlinear problems in random theory. (Technology Press, + Cambridge, England.) + + + WILLIAMSON, F. S. L. + + 1956. The molt and testis cycle of the Anna hummingbird. + Condor, 58:342-366. + + + WOLFE, L. R. + + 1961. The breeding birds of Decatur County, Kansas: 1908-1915. + Bull. Kansas Ornith. Soc., 12:27-30. + + + ZUVANICH, J. R. + + 1963. Forster terns breeding in Kansas. Bull. Kansas Ornith. + Soc., 14:1-3. + + + +_Transmitted November 21, 1963._ + + + [Illustration: FIG. 10.--Map of Kansas showing names of counties.] + + + + +UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS + +MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY + + +Institutional libraries interested in publications exchange may obtain +this series by addressing the Exchange Librarian, University of Kansas +Library, Lawrence, Kansas. Copies for individuals, persons working in +a particular field of study, may be obtained by addressing instead the +Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas. +There is no provision for sale of this series by the University Library, +which meets institutional requests, or by the Museum of Natural History, +which meets the requests of individuals. Nevertheless, when individuals +request copies from the Museum, 25 cents should be included, for each +separate number that is 100 pages or more in length, for the purpose of +defraying the costs of wrapping and mailing. + +* An asterisk designates those numbers of which the Museum's supply +(not the Library's supply) is exhausted. Numbers published to date, in +this series, are as follows: + + + Vol. 1. Nos. 1-26 and index. Pp. 1-638, 1946-1950. + +*Vol. 2. (Complete) Mammals of Washington. By Walter W. Dalquest. + Pp. 1-444, 140 figures in text. April 9, 1948. + + Vol. 3. Nos. 1-4 and index. Pp. 1-681. 1951. + +*Vol. 4. (Complete) American weasels. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp. 1-466, + 41 plates, 31 figures in text. December 27, 1951. + + Vol. 5. Nos. 1-37 and index. Pp. 1-676, 1951-1953. + +*Vol. 6. (Complete) Mammals of Utah, _taxonomy and distribution_. By + Stephen D. Durrant. Pp. 1-549, 91 figures in text, 30 tables. + August 10, 1952. + + Vol. 7. Nos. 1-15 and index. Pp. 1-651, 1952-1955. + + Vol. 8. Nos. 1-10 and index. Pp. 1-675, 1954-1956. + + Vol. 9. *1. Speciation of the wandering shrew. By James S. Findley. + Pp. 1-68, 18 figures in text. December 10, 1955. + + 2. Additional records and extension of ranges of mammals + from Utah. By Stephen D. Durrant, M. Raymond Lee, and + Richard M. Hansen. Pp. 69-80. December 10, 1955. + + 3. A new long-eared myotis (Myotis evotis) from northeastern + Mexico. By Rollin H. Baker and Howard J. Stains. + Pp. 81-84. December 10, 1955. + + 4. Subspeciation in the meadow mouse, Microtus pennsylvanicus, + in Wyoming. By Sydney Anderson. Pp. 85-104, 2 figures in + text. May 10, 1956. + + 5. The condylarth genus Ellipsodon. By Robert W. Wilson. + Pp. 105-116, 6 figures in text. May 19, 1956. + + 6. Additional remains of the multituberculate genus + Eucosmodon. By Robert W. Wilson. Pp. 117-123, 10 figures + in text. May 19, 1956. + + 7. Mammals of Coahuila, Mexico. By Rollin H. Baker. + Pp. 125-335, 75 figures in text. June 15, 1956. + + 8. Comments on the taxonomic status of Apodemus peninsulae, + with description of a new subspecies from North China. + By J. Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 337-346, 1 figure in text, + 1 table. August 15, 1956. + + 9. Extensions of known ranges of Mexican bats. By Sydney + Anderson. Pp. 347-351. August 15, 1956. + + 10. A new bat (Genus Leptonycteris) from Coahuila. By Howard + J. Stains. Pp. 353-356. January 21, 1957. + + 11. A new species of pocket gopher (Genus Pappogeomys) from + Jalisco, Mexico. By Robert J. Russell. Pp. 357-361. + January 21, 1957. + + 12. Geographic variation in the pocket gopher, Thomomys + bottae, in Colorado. By Phillip M. Youngman. Pp. 363-387, + 7 figures in text. February 21, 1958. + + 13. New bog lemming (genus Synaptomys) from Nebraska. By J. + Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 385-388. May 12, 1958. + + 14. Pleistocene bats from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo León, + México. By J. Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 389-396. December 19, + 1958. + + 15. New subspecies of the rodent Baiomys from Central America. + By Robert L. Packard. Pp. 397-404. December 19, 1958. + + 16. Mammals of the Grand Mesa, Colorado. By Sydney Anderson. + Pp. 405-414, 1 figure in text. May 20, 1959. + + 17. Distribution, variation, and relationships of the montane + vole, Microtus montanus. By Sydney Anderson. Pp. 415-511, + 12 figures in text, 2 tables. August 1, 1959. + + 18. Conspecificity of two pocket mice, Perognathus goldmani + and P. artus. By E. Raymond Hall and Marilyn Bailey + Ogilvie. Pp. 513-518, 1 map. January 14, 1960. + + 19. Records of harvest mice, Reithrodontomys, from Central + America, with description of a new subspecies from + Nicaragua. By Sydney Anderson and J. Knox Jones, Jr. + Pp. 519-529. January 14, 1960. + + 20. Small carnivores from San Josecito Cave (Pleistocene), + Nuevo León, México. By E. Raymond Hall. Pp. 531-538, + 1 figure in text. January 14, 1960. + + 21. Pleistocene pocket gophers from San Josecito Cave, Nuevo + León, México. By Robert J. Russell. Pp. 539-548, 1 figure + in text. January 14, 1960. + + 22. Review of the insectivores of Korea. By J. Knox Jones, + Jr., and David H. Johnson. Pp. 549-578. February 23, 1960. + + 23. Speciation and evolution of the pygmy mice, genus Baiomys. + By Robert L. Packard. Pp. 579-670, 4 plates, 12 figures + in text. June 16, 1960. + + Index. Pp. 671-690. + + Vol. 10. 1. Studies of birds killed in nocturnal migration. By + Harrison B. Tordoff and Robert M. Mengel. Pp. 1-44, + 6 figures in text, 2 tables. September 12, 1956. + + 2. Comparative breeding behavior of Ammospiza caudacuta and + A. maritima. By Glen E. Woolfenden. Pp. 45-75, 6 plates, + 1 figure. December 20, 1956. + + 3. The forest habitat of the University of Kansas Natural + History Reservation. By Henry S. Fitch and Ronald R. + McGregor. Pp. 77-127, 2 plates, 7 figures in text, + 4 tables. December 31, 1956. + + 4. Aspects of reproduction and development in the prairie + vole (Microtus ochrogaster). By Henry S. Fitch. + Pp. 129-161, 8 figures in text, 4 tables. + December 19, 1957. + + 5. Birds found on the Arctic slope of northern Alaska. By + James W. Bee. Pp. 163-211, plates 9-10, 1 figure in text. + March 12, 1958. + + *6. The wood rats of Colorado: distribution and ecology. By + Robert B. Finley, Jr. Pp. 213-552, 34 plates, 8 figures + in text, 35 tables. November 7, 1958. + + 7. Home ranges and movements of the eastern cottontail in + Kansas. By Donald W. Janes. Pp. 553-572, 4 plates, + 3 figures in text. May 4, 1959. + + 8. Natural history of the salamander, Aneides hardyi. By + Richard F. Johnston and Gerhard A. Schad. Pp. 573-585. + October 8, 1959. + + 9. A new subspecies of lizard, Cnemidophorus sacki, from + Michoacán, México. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 587-598, + 2 figures in text. May 2, 1960. + + 10. A taxonomic study of the middle American snake, Pituophis + deppei. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 599-610, 1 plate, + 1 figure in text. May 2, 1960. + + Index. Pp. 611-626. + + Vol. 11. Nos. 1-10 and index. Pp. 1-703, 1958-1960. + + Vol. 12. 1. Functional morphology of three bats: Eumops, Myotis, + Macrotus. By Terry A. Vaughan. Pp. 1-153, 4 plates, + 24 figures in text. July 8, 1959. + + *2. The ancestry of modern Amphibia: a review of the evidence. + By Theodore H. Eaton, Jr. Pp. 155-180, 10 figures in text. + July 10, 1959. + + 3. The baculum in microtine rodents. By Sydney Anderson. + Pp. 181-216, 49 figures in text. February 19, 1960. + + *4. A new order of fishlike Amphibia from the Pennsylvanian + of Kansas. By Theodore H. Eaton, Jr., and Peggy Lou + Stewart. Pp. 217-240, 12 figures in text. May 2, 1960. + + 5. Natural history of the bell vireo. By Jon C. Barlow. + Pp. 241-296, 6 figures in text. March 7, 1962. + + 6. Two new pelycosaurs from the lower Permian of Oklahoma. + By Richard C. Fox. Pp. 297-307, 6 figures in text. + May 21, 1962. + + 7. Vertebrates from the barrier island of Tamaulipas, México. + By Robert K. Selander, Richard F. Johnston, B. J. Wilks, + and Gerald G. Raun. Pp. 309-345, pls. 5-8. June 18, 1962. + + 8. Teeth of Edestid sharks. By Theodore H. Eaton, Jr. + Pp. 347-362, 10 figures in text. October 1, 1962. + + 9. Variation in the muscles and nerves of the leg in two + genera of grouse (Tympanuchus and Pedioecetes). By E. + Bruce Holmes. Pp. 363-474, 20 figures. October 25, 1962. + + 10. A new genus of Pennsylvanian Fish (Crossopterygii, + Coelacanthiformes) from Kansas. By Joan Echols. + Pp. 475-501, 7 figures. October 25, 1963. + + 11. Observations on the Mississippi Kite in southwestern + Kansas. By Henry S. Fitch. Pp. 503-519. October 25, 1963. + + 12. Jaw musculature of the Mourning and White-winged doves. + By Robert L. Merz. Pp. 521-551, 22 figures. + October 25, 1963. + + 13. Thoracic and coracoid arteries in two families of birds, + Columbidae and Hirundinidae. By Marion Anne Jenkinson. + Pp. 553-573, 7 figures. March 2, 1964. + + 14. The breeding birds of Kansas. By Richard F. Johnston. + Pp. 575-655, 10 figures. May 18, 1964. + + Index to come. + + Vol. 13. 1. Five natural hybrid combinations in minnows (Cyprinidae). + By Frank B. Cross and W. L. Minckley. Pp. 1-18. + June 1, 1960. + + 2. A distributional study of the amphibians of the Isthmus + of Tehuantepec, México. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 19-72, + pls. 1-8, 3 figures in text. August 16, 1960. + + 3. A new subspecies of the slider turtle (Pseudemys scripta) + from Coahuila, México. By John M. Legler. Pp. 73-84, + pls. 9-12, 3 figures in text. August 16, 1960. + + 4. Autecology of the copperhead. By Henry S. Fitch. + Pp. 85-288, pls. 13-20, 26 figures in text. + November 30, 1960. + + 5. Occurrence of the garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, in + the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains. By Henry S. Fitch + and T. Paul Maslin. Pp. 289-308, 4 figures in text. + February 10, 1961. + + 6. Fishes of the Wakarusa river in Kansas. By James E. Deacon + and Artie L. Metcalf. Pp. 309-322, 1 figure in text. + February 10, 1961. + + 7. Geographic variation in the North American cyprinid fish, + Hybopsis gracilis. By Leonard J. Olund and Frank B. Cross. + Pp. 323-348, pls. 21-24, 2 figures in text. + February 10, 1961. + + 8. Descriptions of two species of frogs, genus Ptychohyla; + studies of American hylid frogs, V. By William E. Duellman. + Pp. 349-357, pl. 25, 2 figures in text. April 27, 1961. + + 9. Fish populations, following a drought, in the Neosho and + Marais des Cygnes rivers of Kansas. By James Everett + Deacon. Pp. 359-427, pls. 26-30, 3 figures. + August 11, 1961. + + 10. Recent soft-shelled turtles of North America (family + Trionychidae). By Robert G. Webb. Pp. 429-611, pls. 31-54, + 24 figures in text. February 16, 1962. + + Index. Pp. 613-624. + + Vol. 14. 1. Neotropical bats from western México. By Sydney Anderson. + Pp. 1-8. October 24, 1960. + + 2. Geographic variation in the harvest mouse. Reithrodontomys + megalotis, on the central Great Plains and in adjacent + regions. By J. Knox Jones, Jr., and B. Mursaloglu. + Pp. 9-27, 1 figure in text. July 24, 1961. + + 3. Mammals of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. By Sydney + Anderson. Pp. 29-67, pls. 1 and 2, 3 figures in text. + July 24, 1961. + + 4. A new subspecies of the black myotis (bat) from eastern + Mexico. By E. Raymond Hall and Ticul Alvarez. Pp. 69-72, + 1 figure in text. December 29, 1961. + + 5. North American yellow bats, "Dasypterus," and a list of + the named kinds of the genus Lasiurus Gray. By E. Raymond + Hall and J. Knox Jones, Jr. Pp. 73-98, 4 figures in text. + December 29, 1961. + + 6. Natural history of the brush mouse (Peromyscus boylii) + in Kansas with description of a new subspecies. By Charles + A. Long. Pp. 99-111, 1 figure in text. December 29, 1961. + + 7. Taxonomic status of some mice of the Peromyscus boylii + group in eastern Mexico, with description of a new + subspecies. By Ticul Alvarez. Pp. 113-120, 1 figure in + text. December 29, 1961. + + 8. A new subspecies of ground squirrel (Spermophilus + spilosoma) from Tamaulipas, Mexico. By Ticul Alvarez. + Pp. 121-124. March 7, 1962. + + 9. Taxonomic status of the free-tailed bat, Tadarida + yucatanica Miller. By J. Knox Jones, Jr., and Ticul + Alvarez. Pp. 125-133, 1 figure in text. March 7, 1962. + + 10. A new doglike carnivore, genus Cynaretus, from the + Clarendonian Pliocene, of Texas. By E. Raymond Hall and + Walter W. Dalquest. Pp. 135-138, 2 figures in text. + April 30, 1962. + + 11. A new subspecies of wood rat (Neotoma) from northeastern + Mexico. By Ticul Alvarez. Pp. 139-143. April 30, 1962. + + 12. Noteworthy mammals from Sinaloa, Mexico. By J. Knox Jones, + Jr., Ticul Alvarez, and M. Raymond Lee. Pp. 145-159, + 1 figure in text. May 18, 1962. + + 13. A new bat (Myotis) from Mexico. By E. Raymond Hall. + Pp. 161-164, 1 figure in text. May 21, 1962. + + 14. The mammals of Veracruz. By E. Raymond Hall and Walter W. + Dalquest. Pp. 165-362, 2 figures. May 20, 1963. + + 15. The recent mammals of Tamaulipas, México. By Ticul + Alvarez. Pp. 363-473, 5 figures in text. May 20, 1963. + + 16. A new subspecies of the fruit-eating bat, Sturnira + ludovici, from western Mexico. By J. Knox Jones, Jr. and + Gary L. Phillips. Pp. 475-481, March 2, 1964. + + 17. Records of the fossil mammal Sinclairella, Family + Apatemyidae, from the Chadronian and Orellan. By William + C. Clemens. Pp. 483-491. March 2, 1964. + + More numbers will appear in volume 14. + + Vol. 15. 1. The amphibians and reptiles of Michoacán, México. By + William E. Duellman. Pp. 1-148, pls. 1-6, 11 figures in + text. December 20, 1961. + + 2. Some reptiles and amphibians from Korea. By Robert G. + Webb, J. Knox Jones, Jr., and George W. Byers. + Pp. 149-173. January 31, 1962. + + 3. A new species of frog (Genus Tomodactylus) from western + México. By Robert G. Webb. Pp. 175-181, 1 figure in text. + March 7, 1962. + + 4. Type specimens of amphibians and reptiles in the Museum + of Natural History, the University of Kansas. By William + E. Duellman and Barbara Berg. Pp. 183-204. + October 26, 1962. + + 5. Amphibians and Reptiles of the Rainforests of Southern + El Petén, Guatemala. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 205-249, + pls. 7-10, 6 figures in text. October 4, 1963. + + 6. A revision of snakes of the genus Conophis (Family + Colubridae, from Middle America). By John Wellman. + Pp. 251-295, 9 figures in text. October 4, 1963. + + 7. A review of the Middle American tree frogs of the genus + Ptychohyla. By William E. Duellman. Pp. 297-349, + pls. 11-18, 7 figures in text. October 18, 1963. + + 8. Natural history of the racer Coluber constrictor. By + Henry S. Fitch. Pp. 351-468, pls. 19-22, 20 figures in + text. December 30, 1963. + + 9. A review of the frogs of the Hyla bistincta group. By + William E. Duellman. Pp. 469-491, 4 figures in text. + March 2, 1964. + + More numbers will appear in volume 15. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + + + With the exception of six typographical errors that were corrected, + converting the 6 occurrences of "pp." to "Pp." to match the 95 in + the Publication listing and moving the list of Publications to the + end of the document, the original text and illustrations are + presented as they appeared in the printed version. Although it is + common practice to convert text that appears in small caps in the + original into all caps in the text version, it was decided that it + looked better not to convert all of the text. For example, the Table + titles. + + Emphasis Notation + + _Text_ - Italic + =Text= - Bold + + Typographical Corrections + + Page Correction + ==== =========================== + 585: Myiarchis => Myiarchus + 590: insectivorus => insectivorous + 611: Vieillot was incorrectly italicized. + 619: Oberholser was incorrectly italicized. + 624: trailii => traillii + 642: in => is + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Breeding Birds of Kansas, by +Richard F. 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