VOl 1907 IV ] Ferry, Notes on Winter Birds. 123 



native conifers are almost entirely absent. Here migrants and 

 winter visitants find an ideal feeding ground and a haven of rest. 



A brief description of the region may be of interest. It extends 

 from the city of Waukegan due north for about six miles. It is 

 a low, sandy waste of dunes and ridges, the latter running northeast 

 parallel to the shore of Lake Michigan, and varies from one half 

 mile in width at its southern end to one and a half to two miles 

 at the northern extremity. Before being partially drained, much 

 of the region was water, occurring in the forms of a wide, shallow 

 pond and two 'dead' rivers. These latter were channels from 

 twenty to thirty rods in width, and without natural outlet. These 

 channels and the pond were continuous and formed a natural 

 waterway extending north and south almost the entire length of 

 the region. Small tributary sloughs entered this larger body. 

 Most of the region is less than ten feet above the lake and only 

 in cases of high water did these confined waters break through a 

 narrow spit and flow into the lake. The dunes and ridges are 

 covered with two species of Juniper (Juniperus communis and J. 

 sabona var. procumbens) , sand berries (Arctostaphylos vva-ursi), 

 huckle-berries (Gaylussacia resinosa), dwarf alder (Alnus serru- 

 lata), white birch (Betula populi folia), and with occasionally white 

 pines and poplars. In its more northern portion are ash, wild 

 raspberries (Rubus strigosus), and black oaks (Quercus velutina). 

 The western boundary of this region is 'the bluff,' a characteristic 

 feature of the shore of Lake Michigan in this locality. Here it is 

 heavily wooded with a fine hardwood forest of walnut, hickory, 

 various oaks, and the red and sugar maple (Acer rubrum and A. 

 saccharum). 



This region received the w T riter's close attention during the fall 

 of 1906, weekly visits being made during September, October, and 

 November. This season appeared to be one of remarkable orni- 

 thological interest, as the following list of winter visitants will 

 show. Most of the birds were found among the dense pines 

 above described. 



The following notes were taken while collecting for the Field 

 Museum of Natural History. 



Euphagus carolinus. Rusty Blackbird. — Specimens were 

 taken at the lake shore on January 22, feeding in a corn field, the 

 first winter record of this species for this region. 



