Read Ebook: The Ohio naturalist Vol. I No. 6 April 1901 by Various

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Quiscalus quiscula aeneus . Crow Blackbird. This with the redwings and probably the other blackbirds congregates in very large flocks.

Melospiza fasciata . Song Sparrow, common.

Pipilo erythropthalmus . Towhee.

Cardinalis cardinalis . Cardinal, one pair.

Passerina cyanea . Indigo Bunting, very common.

Petrochelidon lunifrons . Eave Swallow.

Chelidon erythrogaster . Barn Swallow.

Clivicola riparia . Bank Swallow.

The Swallows flock to the beach by thousands after a storm, but are not abundant at other times.

Ampelis cedrorum . Cedar Waxwing.

Dendroica aestiva . Yellow Warbler, common, breeds.

Icteria virens . Yellow-breasted Chat.

Galeoscoptes carolinensis , Catbird, common, breeds.

Cistothorus palustris . Long-billed Marsh Wren, very common, breeds.

Parus atricapillus . Chickadee.

Merula migratoria . American Robin, only one pair, seen only once.

Many birds common in most localities are conspicuous by their absence. The blue jay, crow, thrushes, most of the birds of prey, and the woodpeckers, and many of the sparrows, especially the ubiquitous English sparrow, were not observed at all. But the species occurring are present in great numbers, so that the region may be said to be monotonous in its bird life as well as in its other ecological relations.

PLANT STUDY AT SANDUSKY BAY.

HARRIET G. BURR.

To one whose work has not included collecting and study in such surroundings as Sandusky Bay affords, the revelation of even a few days here is worth a great deal. The marshes about Sandusky, the rocky islands, the sand dunes at Cedar Point, the "prairie" in the direction of Castalia, all offer valuable work to the student of ecology.

But during the week spent at the Lake Laboratory last August it was in study of the water plants of the Bay that I found the greatest interest. The collecting is after a manner novel to the "land lubber." The collections, carried back to the Laboratory for study, have the fascination of the unusual, for represented among them are families more or less unfamiliar to general students.

A collecting trip for water-plants usually takes one across the Bay among the bulrushes and wild rice along Cedar Point. Here from the sides of the boat we look down into a wilderness of strange forms through the clear water. The curious eel-grass, with its perfect spirals, Myriophyllum and Chara, Philotria, Utricularia, and the Potamogetons spread out upon the surface among the lily-pads around us, are among the most conspicuous. A few minutes collecting here is productive of results quite out of proportion to the time spent. Many of these plants, at the time of my visit, had lifted themselves to the surface and bore their inflorescence above the water. Among these were some of the Potamogetons, Utricularia, Philotria, and others. A marigold looked strangely out of place on the surface of the water--it was the Bidens Beckii in bloom. The American Lotus lifted its head conspicuously above its lesser neighbors. Some minute, light-colored, fluffy masses, floating far out in the Bay, we decided to be the pollen of the Vallisneria.

I have said nothing of the Algae; the most of my work at the Laboratory, however, was with these forms. Many kinds are common and many more may be obtained by seeking for them. These types of plant life, in beauty of form and importance of study rivaled by none, repay much time spent upon them.

The collecting and study of only a week here--a week, too, of recreation rather than of work--was but a suggestion of what might be done, though one which proved quite powerful. From our landing at Cedar Point was visible, for a long distance out, the bright pink of a Swamp Rose Mallow. It typified the week's work, it was a suggestion, too, of other strangers which might be lurking behind those trees and among those vines and undergrowth. We found that the suggestion was not a vain one, and in following it out we were never disappointed.

DRAGONFLIES OF SANDUSKY.

JAMES S. HINE.

As the dragonflies of Sandusky have been quite carefully collected for a number of years, it may be worth while to give the result in the form of a list with notes on some of the species.

Calopteryx maculata and Hetaerina americana have not been taken as commonly as in some places, for the locality does not furnish their most desirable surroundings.

The genus Lestes is represented by unguiculatus, uncatus, disjunctus, forcipatus, rectaugularis, vigilax, inequalis and eurinus. Nearly all of these species are abundant and are mostly found among the grass at the edge of the marsh.

Nehalennia posita and irene; Enallagma civile, ebrium, carunculatum, aspersum, exsulans, geminatum, antennatum, signatum pollutum; Amphiagrion saucium and Ischnura verticalis have all been taken, usually near the water's edge.

The Gomphines are not represented by a great number of species. Gomphus vastus is exceedingly common, and fraternus, furcifer, exilis, spicatus and plagiatus have been taken. Dromogomphus spinosus is also common.

Epiaeschna heros and AEschna verticalis and constricta may occasionally be seen, especially about the time the sun sets, catching small insects for food. Anax junius is the most conspicuous species in the locality from May to September.

Macromia illinoiensis is a very common species. At certain times the males and females of this species may be found in numbers in quiet places among bushes, where they come to rest on the under side of branches, their bodies being at an angle of about thirty degrees with the branch. They are easily approached at such times, and two females and four males have been taken at a single sweep of the net.

Epicordulia princeps, Tetragoneuria cynosura, Tramea carolina and lacerata and Pantala flavescens are occasionally seen.

Neurocordulia yamaskanensis has only been taken once on Rattlesnake Island. It is a rare species, but one that is more common in the northern states.

The genus Libellula is represented by basalis, 4-maculata, semifasciata, pulchella and incesta; and Sympetrum by obtrusum, rubicundulum, vicinum, senicinctum and corruptum.

Pachydiplax longipennis, Plathemis lydia, mesothemis simplicicollis, Perithemis domitia, Leucorhinia intacta and Celethemis eponina and elisa are abundant, and with the members of the genus Libellula furnish a very large percentage of the dragonfly life of the Sandusky Marshes.

SPONGES AND BRYOZOANS OF SANDUSKY BAY.

F. L. LANDACRE.

The two small groups of fresh water sponges and Bryozoa received some attention at the Lake laboratory during the summer of 1900.

They also form winter buds or statoblasts which carry the sponge over the winter and reproduce it again in the spring. This peculiar process was probably acquired on account of the changes in temperature and in amount of moisture to which animals living in fresh water streams are subjected. The sponge dies in the fall of the year and its skeleton of silicious spines or spicules can be found with no protoplasm. The character of the spines in the body of the sponge and those surrounding the statoblast differ greatly, and those around the statoblast are the main reliance in identifying sponges. So that if a statoblast is found the sponge from which it came can be determined, and on the other hand it is frequently very difficult to determine the species of a sponge if it has not yet formed its statoblast. The statoblast is a globular or disc-shaped, nitroginous cell with a chimney-like opening where the protoplasm escapes in the spring. The adult sponge is non-sexual but the statoblasts give rise to ova and spermatozoa which unite and produce a new sponge. The statoblast is considered as the sexual generation.

Three species belonging to one of the seven genera were positively identified.

The fresh water Polyozoa comprise a small group of animals resembling the sponges in the process of statoblast formation, but otherwise totally different. Their real relationship is not definitely known. They are among the most beautiful of our lower fresh water forms. The body is nearly always protected by a cyst from which the anterior end of the animal projects when undisturbed and into which it can be retracted. There is a larval form resembling that of the worms and several other invertebrate groups, and a marked metamorphosis to the adult form. The statoblasts as in the sponges are of value in identification, and are formed on a strand of tissue connecting the base of the animal to its cyst. The individuals or Polyps increase in number by budding.

ADDITIONS TO THE SANDUSKY FLORA.

ROBERT F. GRIGGS.

The following plants not given in the "Sandusky Flora" have been collected in Erie county. They are here given in order that those possessing a copy of Professor Moseley's excellent flora of the region may keep it up to date. The numbers refer to the pages of the Sandusky Flora, on which the additions should be made.

Footnote 1:

Previously reported as additions to State list. See OHIO NATURALIST, 1: 15-16.

MINOR PLANT NOTES, NO. 3.

W. A. KELLERMAN.

SORGHUM SMUT IN ADAMS COUNTY.--A small field of Sorghum near Mineral Springs Station, Adams County, Ohio, was observed last November to be badly infected with the grain smut of Sorghum, known to botanists as ustilago sorghi, or perhaps more correctly designated as Cintractia sorghi-vulgaris. A careful inspection of the harvested stalks, still piled in the field, showed that fully twenty per cent. of the panicles or heads were infected. When there is infection by this smut, usually every grain in the panicle is smutted according to repeated observations in various localities. The field in question was very thickly planted to sorghum, the crop evidently being intended for stock feed. The only other locality reported in Ohio for this smut, so far as at present recalled, is Columbus, where however it has occurred only upon artificial infection. Broom corn also was here successfully infected. Sorghum is often cultivated, but not in large quantities in Ohio; a large acreage of broom corn is however annually planted. Request is hereby made for reports in case this smut is noticed in other localities in our State. The Head-smut of Sorghum, Ustilago reiliana, should also be reported if observed.

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