34 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 3 



specific differences, and the boundaries of 

 many of tlie lesser faunal divisions are based 

 upon such variation. 



Further researcli has demonstrated tlie fact 

 tliat the majority of the birds found along the 

 numerous islands of Southern Alaska are 

 strongly tinged with red as in California; the 

 paler browns become rufous, and grays are 

 apt to be intensified to dark brown; while 

 further north, in the Aleutian chain, the 

 browns are replaced by gray. 



Until the latter part of the season the bird 

 waves will come as before, with stormy 

 weather. There is, however, an important 

 difference. In spring, high temperatuie ac- 

 companied storm periods. The warm weather, 

 backed by favoring winds, were incentives for 

 the birds to push northward, and the coinci- 

 dence of stormy weather was a netessaiy evil 

 to be endured. But in autumn the tempera- 

 ture drops with the advent of a storm, and tlie 

 bad weather acts as an auxiliary force, which 

 combines with the low temperature and usu- 

 ally favoring winds, to urge birds towards the 

 soutli. Late in fall the conditions are some- 

 what changed, and the lowest temperature 

 comes with the fine weather after the storm. 

 In consequence, the most marked waves no 

 longer occur during bad weather. 



In this way the migrations i)ass, rising as a 

 tide in spring and fall, and falling off at other 

 times, the lowest period being in winter, 

 although in New England it never ebbs entirely 

 away. llnmj Gordon White. 



WashinRtnn, D. C. 



A Morning on Spoon River, 111. 



The morning of September 2'k 1801, was one 

 long to be remembered by the writer. The 

 air was balmy and the river as still and 

 quiet as the surface of a lake. In company 



with a naturalist friend. Professor D , we 



manned our little boat and set sail for a few 

 hours' general collecting on the beautiful river, 

 the " Winding Spoon." 



For a number of miles above the mill-dam at 

 the village of Bernadotte the stream main- 

 tains an average depth of about seven feet. 

 The banks present an ever-changing scene of 

 landscape beauty, with the wooded hills in the 

 distance for a background. Now a great 

 tangle of blooming morning-glories, purple 

 astors and golden-rod, and then a soft fringe 

 of swaying willow or drooping elm. dipping 



to the water's edge, weighted with wreaths of 

 the wild grape-vine and a wreath of purple 

 fruit. This landscape beauty was mirrored 

 with such vivid distinctness that we seemed 

 looking down upon another world beneath 

 the waves. 



As we glided along in our liglit-running 

 craft, there raced ahead of us a number of 

 water birds. A small Hock of Blue-winged 

 Teal, a Great Blue and a pair of Little Green 

 Heron, a Kingfisher and a Dabchick were 

 observed. The latter bird made strenuous 

 efforts to distance us by diving, but the game 

 was a losing one, for every time that it reap- 

 peared at the surface the distance between us 

 had rapidly diminished. Finally it stayed 

 under the water an unusually long time, and 

 when next seen it was down the river fully a 

 hundred feet below us. Wings as well as 

 legs must have been used and the transit under 

 the water an actual tlight. 



The little Sandpipers were busily seeking 

 a breakfast along the river's bank, and their 

 call notes could be heard on every side. So 

 tame were they and unsuspicious of danger 

 that they paid but little attention to us. If 

 we ran the boat too close to suit them they 

 would rise upon the wing and skim along the 

 water, uttering their peculiar notes of peet- 

 ii-eet-weet, and, alighting upon the oj)posite 

 bank, tilt their body backward and forward 

 for a moment upon their long stik-like legs, 

 and then again resume the business of break- 

 fast hunting. We were not seeking birds, 

 and, having left our guns at home, they were 

 safe from harm. 



Two miles up the river we came to a great 

 forest of trees with an almost impenetrable 

 undergrowth of vines, wild touch-me-nots 

 and nettles. At this place we expected to do 

 some collecting, and, landing our boat, at once 



prepared for business. Prof. D , whose 



h(il)by was entomology, could talk of nothing 

 but butterriies and beetles. In these woods we 

 expected to find many of them, nor were we 

 disappointed, for no sooner had we climbed 

 over the steep bank, than great numbers of 

 butterflies were to be seen flying about 

 through the lower limbs of the trees, or hang- 

 ing in clusters from the leaves of the silver 

 maple and hackberry, upon which they were 

 feeding and depositing their eggs. 



With our butterfly net we soon had all that 

 we desired snugly going to sleep in our 

 cyanide jars. The species captiued were 

 mainly of the Asterids. ihe JUrinise and the 

 IdaUa. 



