8 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1915. 



of Siberia. It was Mr. Amory's intention to explore such territory 

 as may be practicable from Nijni Kolymsk as a winter base, giving 

 special attention to mammals and birds. Wlien last heard from he 

 had made a trip up the Lesser Ammi River, where he obtained a 

 good number of fossil specimens, also some birds and small mammals. 



BIRD STUDIES IN ILLINOIS. 



Incidental to continued work on preparation of manuscript of the 

 unpublished volumes of " Birds of North and Middle America " 

 (Bulletin 50, U. S. National Museum), Mr. Robert Ridgway, during 

 the past year, made a careful study of bird life in southern Illinois 

 in order to compare present conditions with those existing half a 

 century ago. It was found that with few exceptions the native birds 

 are greatly decreased in numbers. At least three species (the pas- 

 senger pigeon, wild turkey, and ruffed grouse) have totally disap- 

 peared from the region examined, while several others are on the 

 verge of extermination. A few species, such as the crow blackbird 

 (bronzed grackle) and blue jay, and perhaps the robin, are, appar- 

 ently, as numerous as they were 50 years ago. 



The principal causes which have brought about this greatly dimin- 

 ished bird life are: (1) In the case of the game birds, relentless 

 shooting; (2) greatly reduced breeding and shelter areas, through 

 clearing of forests, cutting away of woody growths along roadsides 

 and fence lines, and drainage of swampy or marshy areas; (3) intro- 

 duction of the European house sparrow, which has increased to such, 

 an extent that it now outnumbers, even on the farms, all the smaller 

 native birds combined, greatly reducing their food supply and mo- 

 nopolizing the nesting sites of such species as the bluebird, purple 

 martin, wrens, swallows, and other birds that nest in cavities or about 

 buildings; (4) invasion of the woods and fields by homeless house 

 cats and destruction of eggs and young (often the parents also) of 

 ground-nesting speci«s by " self-hunting " bird dogs (setters and 

 pointers) ; and, probably, (5) spraying of orchards. 



HENDERSON EXPEDITION IN CUBA. 



Since the Tomas Barrera expedition to western Cuba, Mr. John 

 B. Henderson, a regent of the Smithsonian Institution, has made 

 two trips to eastern Cuba to supplement the work of that expedition. 



One of these visits was to Cardenas Bay, where extensive, as well 

 as intensive, dredgings yielded a lot of interesting marine organisms. 

 The second trip embraced Cubitas Mountains, and was made in quest 

 of land shells, which were needed to elucidate problems in the geo- 

 graphic distribution of the land mollusks. 



As heretofore, Mr. Henderson's yacht, the EoUs^ has been kept 

 busy exploring the Pourtales Plateau. Numerous hauls in all depths 



