8 Taverner, Birds of Red Deer River, Alia. [jaa. 



Camp 4 we saw occasional large gulls of the Ring-bill type but it was not 

 until the 12th on a small lake near Tolman's Ferry that a specimen was 

 secured and identified. It is an adult non-breeding male. The bill was 

 yellow with dark spots on the mandibles not forming a complete ring. 

 The inside of mouth was orange shading to bright red in throat and showing 

 externally at the gape. Eye-ring vermilion. The legs and feet are clear 

 chrome yellow instead of the greenish yellow that most of the written 

 descriptions call for. It is not impossible that these prairie birds will be 

 found to be distinguishable from the eastern race on the basis of leg color- 

 ation. Colored drawings of the soft parts were from the fresh specimen. 



8.* Larus franklini. Franklin's Gull. — Seen almost daily in 

 singles to occasional fairly large flocks as far as Camp 8| July 17, after 

 which they were observed less regularly. We found none breeding though 

 we have downy young taken by Horsbrough at Mirror Lake, where he 

 found large numbers of them in 1915. At Camp 11, July 27, Young col- 

 lected a juvenile in an emaciated and starving condition, the only one 

 seen there. From the remains found in the Duck Hawk nests we exam- 

 ined it was evident that Franklin's Gull is a favorable prey of that bird. 



9. Larus sp. Large Gtjll. — Horsbrough received a report of 

 Herring Gulls, L. argentatus, that formerly bred on Buffalo Lake, but does 

 not personally substantiate it further than by recording the presence of a 

 pair there June 2, 1914. These records may refer to the California Gull, 

 L. calif onricus, or even L. delawarensis. 



10. Sterna sp. Tern. — At the Pump House Camp 4 near Nevis, 

 July 8, terns were seen but not taken and their identity, whether Common 

 or Forster's, is problematical. Horsbrough records the Common Tern as 

 breeding near Alix but does not mention Forster's. 



11.* Hydrochelidon nigra. Black Tern. — A few seen about 

 small lakes at Camp 1 and again at Tolman's Ferry. We have downy 

 young taken by Horsbrough at Alix, 1915. He found them breeding com- 

 monly at Buffalo Lake. 



12. Phalacrocorax auritus. Double-crested Cormorant. — Re- 

 ported by Dippie at Buffalo Lake (1896?). Horsbrough mentions a bird, 

 provisionally referred to this species, seen there May 20, 1915, and repeats 

 reports of its breeding near Edmonton. 



13. Pelecanus erythrorhynchos. White Pelican. — Though we 

 saw no Pelicans we heard of them from several sources and Charles 

 Sternberg reported seeing one at his camp on the Little Sandhill Creek, 

 June 24. 



14. Mergus sp. Merganser. — One was seen between Tolman's 

 Ferry and Drumheller July 13. It was a female or juvenile and its species 

 could not be determined. 



15.* Anas platyrhynchos. Mallard. — Quite common breeder on 

 sloughs and ponds of the upper prairie level but less often seen on the river 

 itself. Local residents near Red Deer speak with disdain of the locally 



