78 SIXTEENTH REPORT. 



LIST OF SPECIES. 



In the following list the writer has endeavored to give an idea of the 

 local distribution of each species in respect to the habitats recognized. In 

 addition to this aim, he has attempted to record the abundance of the several 

 species, the time of its appearance and disappearance whenever possible, 

 the time of nesting, and such miscellaneous data as food, methods of pro- 

 curing it, characteristic actions of certain species, and other field observa- 

 tions. In addition to these observations and records, further detailed 

 notes were kept in the field catalog, such as the hour of the daj^ when each 

 specimen was taken, as w^ell as the habitat, and, if judged to be of sufficient 

 importance, what the bird was doing at the time of collection. The stomach 

 of every bird taken was preserved in formalin and tagged with the nlimber 

 corresponding to that of the specimen in the catalog. The nature of each 

 individual's food can thus be ascertained at any future time in the labora- 

 tory^ b}' an examination of the stomach contents. All specimens collected 

 were examined for external parasites, which were also preserved for future 

 identification. 



It will be noted that a few species are listed from Holmes Farm, and 

 from nowhere else. This farm was traversed both enroute to camp and 

 in return. It is located some eight or ten miles from Brown Lake, and is 

 under a good state of cultivation. All the other observations and records 

 are from the wild lands of the lake region. 



1. Podilymbus podiceps. Pied-billed Grebe. — This species was noted but 

 three times during the summer. The first was a single bird seen July 5. 

 Others were recorded August 10 and 17, on each of which occasions two 

 birds were seen together. All were on Brown Lake. 



2. Gavia immer. Loon. — The first of this species was recorded July 7, 

 when a single bird was seen on Brown Lake. Two more were about the 

 lake on July 10 and 11. They were exceedingly shy and wary of approach, 

 and both flew away on the evening of the eleventh when pursued in a canoe, 

 and no others were seen. 



3. Anas platyrhynchos. Mallard.— A single female was seen along the 

 river near the rock outcrop on July 30. She was very shy and flushed at 

 sight, leaving the river and flying high over the burn. No further records of 

 the species were obtained. 



4. Ardea herodias herodias. Great Blue Heron. — There were a few in- 

 dividuals of this species that were seen almost daily during the entire sum- 

 mer. They fed along the edge of the lakes and rivers, from which places 

 they were frequently flushed. Sometimes on the rivers when turning a 

 sharp bend, one surprised the big birds at close range, but usually they 

 were shy and stayed on the more regular shore of Brown Lake, where they 

 could see for longer distances. Flushed here, they fleAv directly to one of 

 several large dead trees some hundreds of yards from the shore and alighted 

 in the top, sometimes remaining there for an hour or more before resuming 

 their feeding. The caretaker of the camp informed us that there were 

 several nests in a group of trees somewhere along the river where these 

 birds had been for years, but he never showed them to us and none of the 

 party ever found the place. An immature bird, fully plumaged, was taken 

 on August 9. 



5. Porzana Carolina. Sora. — As we left camp August 24, we flushed one 

 bird in the long grass of the marshy area near the river. It was the only 

 rail seen. 



