  (Note: this is a shortened version of the original "structured" A&A format
abstract.) We performed a large optical spectroscopic and photometric survey of
the Lynds~1630N and 1641 clouds. We provide a catalog of 132 confirmed young
stars in L1630N and 267 such objects in L1641. We identify 28 transition disk
systems, 20 of which were previously unknown, as well as 42 new transition disk
candidates for which we have broad-band photometry but no optical spectroscopy.
We estimate mass accretion rates M_acc from the equivalent widths of the
H_alpha, H_beta, and HeI 5876\AA emission lines, and find a dependence on
stellar mass of M_acc propto Mstar^alpha, with alpha~3.1 in the subsolar mass
range that we probe. An investigation of a large literature sample of mass
accretion rate estimates yields a similar slope of alpha~2.8 in the subsolar
regime, but a shallower slope of alpha~2.0 if the whole mass range of 0.04
M_sun-5 Msun is included. Among the transition disk objects, the fraction of
stars that show significant accretion activity is relatively low compared to
stars with still optically thick disks (26\pm11% vs. 57\pm6%, respectively).
However, those transition disks that do show significant accretion have the
same median accretion rate as normal optically thick disks of 3-4*10^{-9}
M_sun/yr. We find that the ages of the transition disks and the WTTSs without
disks are statistically indistinguishable, and both groups are significantly
older than the CTTSs. These results argue against disk-binary interaction or
gravitational instability as mechanisms causing a transition disk appearance.
Our observations indicate that disk lifetimes in the clustered population are
shorter than in the distributed population. We propose refined Halpha
equivalent width criteria to distinguish WTTSs from CTTSs.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics