THE OOLOGIST. 



47 



skeletons and half consumed bodies of 

 the Pigeon, which in crossing the lake 

 is often overtaken by severe tempests, 

 and compelled to alight upon the water 

 and are thus drowned in entire flocks, 

 which are soon thrown up along the 

 shores. This causes the shores of Lake 

 Michigan to be visited by vast numbers 

 of Buzzards, Eagles, and other birds of 

 prey. The Indians also make use of 

 these Pigeons as food, when first driven 

 ashore, -preserving such in smoke as 

 they have not immediate occasion for. 

 Vast broods of young Gulls are also 

 destroyed during the violent storms 

 which frequently agitate this lake." 



It is from the heavy rains that the 

 birds suffer most here in Minnesota. 

 We read in the papers when the hunt- 

 ing season comes, that the Prairie Chick- 

 en is not plentiful in such-and-such a 

 district; and that the spring rains are re- 

 sponsible for the failure of large broods. 

 What is true of the Prairie Chicken is 

 true of all the ground birds — and there 

 are many of them. In a down jjour the 

 little rivulets that thread every hillside 

 must tear away some ne&ts, the filled 

 hollows must cover some, and during a 

 protracted rain many eggs must become 

 chilled when the ground is well soaked, 

 or when the bird leaves her nest. 



1 have always noticed a great differ- 

 ence between the abundance of Water 

 Rails on a moist and on a dry year. 

 Last autumn and the autumn before 

 last, they were abundant near Minneap- 

 olis, while on years, when there was a 

 rise of a foot or more of water in the 

 lakes and marshes, they were not very 

 numerous. The nests had been flooded 

 as had the eggs of all those Iiirds build- 

 ing flxed nests in close proximity to 

 the water. 



The birds may Ijuild again but it is 

 not probable that all will do so, as is 

 evidenced by the difference in num- 

 bers on the different seasons. I have 

 known the Least Bittern to immediately 

 build second nests, f visited a c(douy 



of these birds one summer, after we 

 had experienced heavy showers. The 

 water had raised until it had touched or 

 had slightly flooded the domiciles of 

 some of the members of the colony. 

 These had been abandoned and at the 

 height of a foot and a half or there- 

 abouts and very close to the former 

 nests they had builded again. At the 

 time I was there the water had reced- 

 ed somewhat, leaving the eggs settled 

 in the deserted structures and 1 was 

 able to collect a number of eggs with- 

 out robbing the birds. 



Sometimes here in Minnesota winter 

 may return on its tracks after a period 

 of warm spring days. On the 20th of 

 April, year before last, a snow storm 

 came and covered the ground to the 

 depth of six or eight inches. It is ex- 

 tremely rare that so great a depth 

 should fall at this time, but often a 

 lighter snow falls during this month. 

 The Prairie Horned Larks were breed- 

 ing at the date mentioned and I visited 

 a nest I had previously come across I 

 found the young birds frozen to death, 

 and the old birds standing mournfully 

 about as though grieving over the loss. 



April 20th is at the height of the rea- 

 son for the nests of this species, and 

 many and many a bird probably suffer- 

 ed the loss of eggs or young. 



H. M. GciLFORD, 



Minneapolis, Minn. 



Winter Birds of Linn Couaty, Oregon. 



It perhaps will be of interest to- your 

 readers to know of the host of winter 

 residents which frequent this county. 



The county is long and narrow, ex- 

 tending from the Williaim-tte River, 

 (which is in the center of this great val- 

 ley.) U) near the summit of the Cas(;ade 

 mount tins. 



Thus presenting a div«rsilied climate 

 and vegetation, in which n)any forujs of 

 bird life are found. 



