GATES—SUMMER Birp Lire IN [LLINOIs. 9 
THE FOREST PROVINCE. 
The associations of the deciduous forest province cover 
more than half of the area in the vicinity of the Biological 
Station. This province falls naturally into two groups of as- 
sociations, those of the bottomlands and those of the uplands. 
The former is composed largely of hydrofytic plants and the 
latter of those of mesofytic and xerofytic tendencies. 
Aguatic Association. Arranging the associations in a 
normal genetic series, the aquatic association comes first into 
consideration. It consists of the waters of the Illinois River, 
together with the numerous lales, bayous and creeks that 
drain directly or indirectly into it. The area is relativly very 
large in comparison to the number of birds by which it is 
populated during the summer. Even as it is, many of its 
present members are purely accidental, as it is not uncommon 
for wounded migrating ducks to remain in the lakes all sum- 
mer. The population at present is very much smaller than 
formerly, for which hunters are mostly responsible. 
Birds which are found associated with the water may be 
divided into two groups, those that are naturally in or on the 
water and those that are usually in the air above it. Treating 
of those whose essential element is water rather than air 
alone, the double-crested cormorant and the pied-billed grebe 
were the only members noticed breeding within the vicinity, 
altho the wood duck is known to hav bred there in 1909. The 
breeding range of the cormorant, as usually given, is from 
Minnesota northward. This remarkable southern extension of 
this bird’s breedimg range is described in detail by Frank 
Smith (Auk, 1911: 16-19). 
Other members of this group which are very irregular in 
number and distribution are the ducks, of which the following 
were noted during July, 1910: a red-breasted merganser, mal- 
lard, lesser scaup and a blue-winged teal. Altho occasionally 
seen in the open river they are more abundant in the north 
end of Thompson’s Lake. This region is south of the present 
