Reports of Field Agents 291 



his time to strengthening the National Association and the Slate Associations 

 and increasing their membership and income during the rest of the year. Thus 

 twelve men could be used to advantage in these states. 



It is impossible for your agent in New England to do the work of twelve men, 

 but he believes that the time will come when the importance of this work will 

 be recognized, and then the means and the men will be forthcoming. 



REPORT OF WILLIAM L. FINLEY 



On May 14, 1908, Mr. Herman T. Bohlman and I left Portland to make 

 a study of bird life in southeastern Oregon, with the hope of reporting on con- 

 ditions and securing additional reservations for the protection of our water 

 fowl. The trip was taken in Mr. Bohlman's 'White Steamer' which was sped 

 ally remodeled and arranged with complete camping outfit. The machine was 

 shipped to The Dalles by boat, and from there we traveled straight south through 

 Shaniko and Prineville to Burns. The roads were often rough and steep, but 

 we reached Lake Malheur without accident, after a 300-mile run. 



Lake Malheur is a body of water about twelve by fifteen miles, and, like the 

 other lakes through southern Oregon, has a vast area of tule land surrounding 

 it. Malheur differs from Harney and Klamath Lakes, in that it is a shallow 

 body of water only a few feet deep, and abounds in a great variety of plant life. 

 For this reason it is the best feeding-ground in the fall and spring for the great 

 flocks of migrating water-fowl. 



In order to explore this region, we first tried a folding canvas boat, which 

 we secured at Burns, twenty-five miles north of the lake. This had the advantage 

 of being light, but it was too small to carry the equipment we needed for a week's 

 trip on the lake. We needed a double-ended flat-bottom boat that could be used 

 in shallow places to make way through the tules. We made three different trips 

 out through various sections of this vast lake district. We were out for nine day;, 

 during the last trip. 



We had to undergo many hardships in exploring this region to find the different 

 bird colonies. We spent much of our time searching to see if we could not find 

 a few American Egrets, for great colonies of these birds formerly inhabited this 

 region. 



After almost two months in this country, we discovered many large colonies 

 of breeding birds. The most important, perhaps, was a colony of 500 White- 

 faced Glossy Ibis, which were nesting in the same locality with the Black-crowned 

 Night Herons. We found several colonies of Great Blue Herons and Farallone 

 Cormorants nesting together. Besides some small colonies, we found one locality 

 where about two thousand Western Grebe were breeding. The most populous 

 colony we found was one composed of thousands of White Pelicans and Ring 

 billed and California (kills nesting near together. In addition, we found a colony 

 of Eared Grebe nesting with a colony of Western Grebe; also several small col- 



