(18) 



624. I'ireo olii<acciiS (Linn.) — Red-eyed Vireo. Very common in L,ong- 

 Pine canyon. 



681. Geofhlypis friciia.s ( Linn. )^Maryland Yellow-throat. Breeds in 

 Long Pine canyon. 



703. Miinhs poly,^lottos (Linn.) — Mockingbird. Sent me from Kear- 

 ney last July — therefore breeding. 



727. Si'fta caroliuoisis Lath. — White-bellied Nuthatch. Long Pine 

 canyon. 



728. Sitfa caua.ioisi.s Linn.— Red-bellied Nuthatch. Nov. 2, Long 

 Pine canyon. 



754. Myadcstcs toivnscndii ( Aud. )— Townsend's Solitaire. Winters in 

 Long Pine canyon, from Oct. 20 to March 22. 



758a. Hyl'ocichla ustulata sivainsoni ( Cab. )— Olive-backed Thrush. 

 Our book lia.s no note of its breeding, but it bred abundantly in Long 

 Pine canyon this year. 



766. Sialia sialis ( Linn. ) — Bluebird. I hear that it breeds a little in 

 our vicinity. I shot one about Sept. 1, '98, that was evidently immature, 

 but may have been mig^rating thus early. 



The progress that we have been able to make, with very little time to 

 give the subject, since the publication of Prof. Bruner's Report, shows that 

 there is much still to be done in the investigation of range, breeding hab- 

 its, and relative abundance of species and varieties, as well as of their eco- 

 nomic relations to man. The present condition of our knowledge is per- 

 haps not without credit to our state, but it can certainly be much increased 

 by this diffusion of what we have, and the collection of that which is in 

 the possession of isolated individuals, through the workings of this Union, 

 which has now brought us bird-lovers together for the first time. 



THE BIRD FAUNA OF THE SALT BASIN, NEAR LINCOLN. 



MR. J. S. HUNTEK. 



A few miles west of Lincoln is a small lake about three-quarters of a 

 mile long and half a mile wide, covering about two hundred acres. The 

 banks slope gradually to the water, and are covered with a scant growth 

 of grass. The water averages between two and three feet in depth. This 

 body of water is called by hunters "The Lake", and by society people 

 "Burlington Beach". It is a semi-natural lake. Formerly there was a 

 salt basin, in which there was very little water and a great deal of mud. 

 Then a scheme was devised to make a lake for a pleasure resort, so across 

 the lower end of the basin a dam was built, and at the upper end a channel 

 dug connecting with Oak Creek. The water is very salty and supports 

 comparatively little plant or animal life. 



But during- the fall and spring'- migrations of the water fowl it seems 

 to be a very attractive spot for them. During the two seasons there is 

 scarcely a day but that one may see one or more flocks of ducks or geese, 

 and numerous shore birds. There is so little concealment that the ducks 

 do not have much trouble in keeping- out of range of a gun. Most ducks 

 are killed from boats. Two local hunters ths past fall killed 157 ducks of 

 various species during six afternoons in a boat. Days when, in a twenty 

 or thirtv miles' tramp along the creeks one will not see a duck, there will 



