230 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



hitherto been observed in Indiana. I cannot, of course, say any- 

 thing definite- about this last statement; but my opinion is that 

 Franklin's Gull must occasionally be seen in Indiana along Lake 

 Michigan. This gull is small, with a black head and neck; the bill, 

 also, of the specimen I saw was black. The bird is not timid and 

 may be approached within a few rods. 



I have now completed the first part of my attempt to prove that 

 birds can be identified without shooting them. So far I have 

 spoken of my own efforts in this direction, and now it remains for 

 me to say what was done by those who accompanied me on my 

 bird trips. A number of the students at Notre Dame have given 

 some attention to the study of bird life, and they have done 

 remarkably well, I think, for the little time they have devoted to the 

 pursuit. Several young men went out with me occasionally in the 

 springs of 191 7 and 19 18, and two of them made the acquaintance of 

 90 species of birds, Among these there were about twenty warblers. 

 Now, every student of birds knows that the warbler family is one 

 of the most difficult to learn. Still the students that observed under 

 my direction did not fail to identify all the warblers we found. And 

 to test their knowledge, I would often ask them to name a certain 

 species of warbler we saw, such as, the female Black-poll, and in time 

 they could succeed in doing it. 



I have now set down facts enough, I think,' to disprove Mr. 

 Barrow's contention that no person without killing birds can 

 identify all the species in his vicinity. Perhaps there is not 

 absolute certainty in every case I have mentioned. But even if 

 this were so, I still hold that most birds, if not all, can be identified 

 by an experienced observer with nothing but a pair of good field 

 glasses. 



"Fairy Circles." 



BY J. A. NIEUWLAND. 



Attention has already been called in these pages to the fact that 

 some species of Myxomycetes, notably Physarum sinuosum, appear 

 in lawns in formations like the so-called "fairy circles" of some of 

 the higher fungi. Such slime-mould ' ' rings' ' have been seen annually 

 in summer on the Notre Dame University Quadrangle for a long 

 time. Last spring it was, however, noticed for the first time that 



