THE MUSEUM. 



91 



Wood Duck. .//.I s/>(»iS(i, Linn. A 

 fairly cominoii mifjiaiU and not rare 

 as a siMniiirr resident in vicinity of 

 tinibert (1 lakts and streams Arrives 

 in spriii.i,'. Maich 25th to April I5tli. 

 Breeds in June and seen in pairs and 

 trios all summer in small lakes and 

 streams. They depart southward 

 October ist to 20th. Usually all gone 

 before October 1 5th. 



Redhead, Aytha Aiiiiiiiditii, EvT. 

 An abundant migrant in spring but 

 nearly as common in the autumn. 

 Arrives usually in large Hocks March 

 12th to May loth. Latest seen in 

 autumn Oct. 1 2 A few probably 

 breed in northern Iowa and Nebraska. 

 I saw several males in Lakes in N \V. 

 Nebraska, June 24, 1895, tlii; females 

 were probably sitting. Killed in large 

 numbers for the table. 



Canvasback. Ayl/tra miisiwria, 

 W'lL?. An irregul r migrant, abun- 

 dant some \ ears and quite scarce 

 others. They will average up as a 

 common migrant .A few bieed in 

 northern part of Nebraska. They ar- 

 rive in spring, Febru .ly 24th to April 

 20th, breeds June isl to 30th and re 

 turn southward September 20th to 

 October 31st. Kill 1! in large num- 

 btrs by spo:l>inen ■ •! 1 market poti 

 hunters. 



American Scaup Duck, Aylkja iitar- 

 ila UiiircliiiJ. SrtijN A common 

 migrant in spiing, following shortly 

 after the I5alpate. arriving March 20th 

 to .April 26th; returning in autumn, 

 Sep'ember 15th to November lOth. 

 Knvwn to local sp Ttsmen as Pdnebill 

 and killed in large numbers. 



Lesser Scaup Duck, Ayl/ij^i ii_i/:ui.\, 

 Eyt. An abundant migrant arriving 

 in spiing and autumn the same time 

 as the American S;aup Duck. 



Ring-necked Duck, Aythya col/aris, 

 DoNOV. Fairly common as a migrant 

 arriving March 20th to April 25th, re- 

 turning September 1 5th to November 

 1st. 



American Golden-eye, Glaucionctta 

 c/an^iila aiitciicana, Bon.M'. Some- 

 what common as a migrant, arriving 



March 20th to May 15th. 1 have 

 never observed this duck in autumn. 

 Th.;y probably return southward 

 early. Known to sportsmen as Whis- 

 tlewings and Garrot and killed in con- 

 siderable numbers along the Missouri 

 River. 



Barrow's Golden eye, (Uau.iouctla 

 iclditih'ca,, Gmei.. Somewhat rare as 

 a migrant arriving in company with 

 the American Golden-eye. I know of 

 but one flock seen in autumn, some of 

 \\ hich may have been American Golden- 

 tye I was present about ten ihinutes 

 after a sportsman killed two males, 

 September 10, 1897. It was from 

 this that I surmised that the preceed- 

 ing species returned early. 



Bufflehead, Charitiulta albeola, 

 Linn. Fairly common as a migrant 

 arriving in spring March 15 to 30th 

 and returning OrtoSer ist to 30th. 

 Sportsmen call tluni Dumplm'.,', Dum- 

 py and Rutterball. 



Harlequin Duck, Histrioiiictis /lis- 

 tiioiicits, Linn. This beautiful little 

 duck is a rare migrant. I know of 

 three of this species being killed in 

 this vicinity, two on the Missouri Riv- 

 er, September 16, 1893 and one at 

 Florence Lake, September 19, 1895. 



Ruddy Duck, lirisiiiatura riibida, 

 WiLS. An irregular migrant. This 

 (luck is the most irregular of all the 

 (lucks that visit this vicinity. Some 

 years they are abundant and then for 

 perhaps two years idiil are setn. 

 They arrive late. May ist to 20th and 

 return October ist to 15th. 



Ip.adok S Trostler, 

 Omaha, Neb. 



Size of a Spider's Thread- 



Leewenbeck, the first microsco pist, 

 wrote in 1685 as follows: "I have 

 often compared the size of the thread 

 spun by full grown sp'ders with a hair 

 of my beard. I placed the thickest 

 part of the hair before the microscope, 

 and. from the most accurate judgment 

 I could form, more than a hundred of 

 such threads placed side by side would 



