20 THE NAUTILUS. 



field. But one trip was made to the Illinois River, and, unfortun- 

 ately, the stream was on a " high," and the conditions unfavorable 

 for collecting. Excepting the dredging up of some fine Plenrocera 

 lewisii Lea, nothing of interest was obtained. 



However, a trip was made to Spoon River at Bernadotte, twelve 

 miles from Lewistown, on October 20, which was more fortunate. 

 The river was at a low stage, and everything favorable for collect- 

 ing. My partner was Dr. J. M. Maguire, whose hobby was not 

 shells, but birds. Yet, as is the case with all lovers of nature, when 

 once within the pale of her magic influence, all her animate crea- 

 tures met a responsive thrill in the kindly heart of the good doctor, 

 and I found in him an enthusiastic and efficient helper in my search 

 for molluscan treasures. 



Procuring a boat we pulled up the river to Island No. 1, five 

 miles from the village. There at the limit of back water from the 

 mill-dam, we expected to find some shells ; nor were we disappointed, 

 for in the shallow water above and below this island, and on the 

 banks under clumps of willows where they were carried by the 

 minks and muskrats, we obtained quite a number of the following 

 Unios : capax Green, coccineus Hild., cornutu* Bar., ebenus Lea, 

 elegans Lea, lachrymosits Lea, luteolus Lam., lamssimus Lea, oi-ri- 

 dens Lea, parvus Bar., pustit/ittus Lea, pustulosus Lea, rubiginosus 

 Lea, trie/onus Lea, Margaritana complanata Barnes, Anodonta 

 inbeeilis Say, decora Lea, edentulu Say. 



Landing on this little island, which covers only about one acre of 

 ground, we ate our lunch, and the doctor collected two or three each 

 ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets, that were busily seeking 

 a dinner in the willows, and we then turned our boat's head down 

 stream on our return voyage to the village. Every half mile or so 

 we would come upon a flock of the beautiful moon ducks or dab- 

 chicks, and, in the trees along the banks, were many red squirrels, 

 and when one was particularly saucy, the crack of the doctor's gun 

 would fetch him tumbling into the river. When the village was 

 reached, we determined to try our luck in the shallow water along 

 the rocky banks a half mile or so below the mill-dam. 



The water gates of the mills had just been shut down, and this 

 would give us six inches less water to work in than when they were 

 open. We soon descried an unexpected advantage from this fact. 

 A half mile down the river, just above a place called the " deep 

 bole," we found a large number of Unto donatiformis Lea and 

 Pleurocera >'/i rutn/n Say. Ill thirty minutes we picked up '-'nil of 



