4 BULLETIN 672, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



thai the bodies of 44,462 wild ducks were gathered and buried 

 between August 22 and September 21. 



In 1913 a few sick birds were noted in the Bear River marshes 

 early in summer, but the trouble was not serious until September. 

 On September 4 Joe Cook reported 600 or more dead birds on some 

 recently Hooded flats near the mouth of Channel 3. Three days 

 later men were brought down to pick up the dead birds, and the 

 work continued until September 26. In this period V. F. Davis 

 records that 46,723 ducks were buried. Attempt was made to 

 clean up only those birds lying in the open. These formed but a 

 small part, so that the figures given probably represent less than 20 

 per cent of the birds that actually died. In gathering these birds 

 men traveled over the soft mud of the flats. The dead ducks were 

 speared with pitchforks and thrown into tubs or boats. Where the 

 soil permitted, these bodies were buried in trenches dug for the pur- 

 pose. Elsewhere they were piled up, covered with rushes, and 

 finally mud was thrown on them. Some of these piles of bodies 

 were still to be seen during the summer of 1916. In both 1912 and 

 1913 the sickness ceased shortly after the opening of the hunting 

 season. During the first few days of October in those years sick 

 birds were common, and hunters often set out helpless ducks in front 

 of their blinds as decoys for the healthy birds. 



In 1914 sick birds first appeared about July 1, and although the 

 trouble developed to a considerable extent, conditions were much 

 better than in any other year since 1910. Comparatively few birds 

 were lost in the Jordan River marshes, but conditions were not so 

 satisfactory on the lower channels of the Weber. On August 21 

 probably between 8,000 and 10,000 ducks lay dead along the north 

 channel in a distance of 2 miles (PI. I, fig. 1). At the same time 

 many helpless birds were in the stagnant water, and a large number 

 unable to fly walked off across the flats at near approach. Birds 

 continued to die here until about September 20. On the Bear River 

 marshes two sick birds were found on July 15, and others had been 

 reported earlier. Sick birds were numerous on August 11, and by 

 August 20 the trouble was at its height. The last sick bird for the 

 season was seen on September 27. 



In 1915 the Jordan River marshes were drained, and the ducks 

 frequenting them were driven elsewhere. The season proved to be 

 abnormally dry, and practically no water passed the irrigation dams 

 across the rivers after the 1st of July. The broad flats at the 

 mouth of the Weber River were entirely bare and remained so until 

 fall. In the Bear River region North Bay was dry, while only a 

 narrow channel led through South Bay to the lake. The major part 

 of the ducks normally found here were forced to go elsewhere, and 

 conditions were such that there were few sick birds among those that 



