KLAMATH LAKE BIRD-LIFE 



KLAMATH LAKE is situated in northeastern California on the 

 Oregon boimdarv line. Its shallow water permits a great 

 growth of tales, or rushes, which almost completely fringe the 

 shore, in places expanding to a width of several miles. They also form 

 islands varying in size from a few square yards to many acres in extent. 

 It is on these islands that the bird colonies are established. There is no 

 soil or beach, and all the birds nest on the beds of matted tules, usually 

 at the border of the island. The White Pelicans, therefore, find here no 

 pebbles with which to construct their usual mound-like nests; the Cas- 

 pian Terns do without sand, and the Cormorants without rocks. Far 

 more important than these is the protection which ground-nesting com- 

 munal birds recjuire, and this the islands supply. 



Fifteen colonies of White Pelicans were counted in this locality 

 between June 30 and July 7, 1906, and doubtless there were others, 

 since only a part of the bird-inhabited region was examined. There 

 were also great numbers of California and Ring-billed (iulls, Caspian 

 Terns, and Farallone Cormorants, while Great Blue Herons, in default 

 of trees, built platform nests of tules among the growing tules. White 

 Pelicans feed while swimming, and were here devouring diseased fish 

 which were floating in the water in large nimibers, wdiile Brown Pelicans 

 capture their prey by diving; but the young of both species make their 

 first attempts at fishing down the parental pouch, as a comparison of 

 this group with the one of the Brown Pelican on the opposite side of the 

 hall will show. The White Pelican weighs sixteen pounds, twice as 

 much as the Brown Pelican. Its wing expanse is between eight and 

 nine feet, and when in the air, it is one of the most impressive of birds. 



Only one colony of the Caspian Tern, the largest, as it is one of the 

 rarest members of its family, was observed. Unfortunately, this interest- 

 ing; bird communitv must give wav to the demands of civilization, for a 

 Government Reclamation project plans the draining of the lake and 

 within a few years alfalfa will doubtless flourish where now tules are 

 growing. 



The group represents the border of a tule island, while the back- 

 ground shows other l)ird-inhabited islets, the surrounding treeless hills, 

 and Mt. Shasta in the distance. 



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