(2 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
Bureau of Fisheries, have been used in the preparation of the present paper, as 
were also the large collections belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries.¢ 
CHARACTER OF THE LAKES, 
The lakes of southeastern Oregon are on a high, semiarid plateau, a portion of 
which, having interior drainage, may be included in a northwestern arm of the 
Great Basin. The region has a general elevation of about 4,000 feet. It is mostly 
a desert, except where the mountains, reaching a sufficient height, form forested 
areas of considerable humidity. The streams flowing from these mountains are 
often of large size, and the water, being clear and cool, supports trout in great num- 
bers and of excellent quality. The marshes and lakes attract myriads of water 
birds, many of which show little fear. The entire region, although in most places 
desolate and forbidding, is one of particular interest, possessing a scenic beauty 
entirely its own. On every side are the well-preserved remains of the past activity 
of geological forces, while the fauna and flora are especially attractive to the naturalist. 
Warner Lake lies in a series of shallow depressions in the nearly flat floor of a 
valley 50 miles long and from 4 to 8 miles wide.’ It receives its water almost 
entirely through streams flowing from the Warner Mountains lying to the westward. 
These mountains rise to a height of perhaps 7,000 feet and are well timbered, 
large pines extending downward to an elevation of about 5,000 feet, where they 
mingle with the junipers and sagebrush of the table-lands. Late in July large 
patches of snow are yet to be seen to the west and southwest, where head the 
principal tributaries of the lake—Honey, Warner, and Twenty-Mile creeks. Tongues 
from the timber belt extend downward along the upper courses of the creeks, which 
occasionally flow through mountain meadows often of large size. Warner Creek 
has cut a magnificent canyon, through which it plunges from the great plateau 
down into the lake basin beneath. The water passes over a basaltic dyke a short 
distance from the mouth of the canyon, producing a picturesque fall some 25 feet 
in height. ; 
The lake is divided into three distinct parts. A transverse ridge of volcanic 
origin several hundred feet high cuts off a southern third except for a narrow 
channel, where the water may flow through to the northward. The northern third 
is completely divided from the central portion by a ridge of sand 10 or 15 feet high 
and of considerable width. This may at times act as adam, but it can hardly pre- 
vent seepage from one portion of the lake to the other. The water on both sides 
of the ridge when seen by the writer was fairly fresh, while at the northern end 
of the lake it was extremely alkaline, nothing growing along its border. All parts 
of the lake are said to be shallow. The water is very turbid, the bottom being 
hidden at a depth of a foot. 
Immediately north of the volcanic ridge the eastern border of ite basin abruptly 
rises to a great height, the walls being in some places almost sheer cliffs. Seen 
— the south this elevation resembles a high, circular mesa. In pees to the 
aAcknowledgments are due to Dr. C ©. H. Gilbert for kindly advice and many ataapla ean Tein a study of 
the distribution of western fishes. 
>The distances and elevations given here are the results of estimates made in the field, an aneroid barometer being 
frequently used. 
