MIDLAND NATURALIST. 97 
must make it a rule to examine every bit of material one meets on 
a collecting expedition, and it often happens that the best plants 
are found where they are the least expected. It is a mistake to 
think that the greenest and best looking scums contain the best 
plants. Reproductive stages of plants are usually found in yellow- 
ish or muddy uninviting masses, whereas the green masses are 
common vegetative states of algae. 
- The most important principle of all to follow is, however, that 
better results and more success will invariably be had rather by 
doing intensive and thorough work over a very small area, than a 
superficial and occasional examination of a large tract of country. 
From the data given above one may get a fairly good idea of what 
constitutes a likely place where algae are to be found. Once such 
a locality is fixed it is necessary often to make trips to it, every few 
days to watch the stages of the various plants present. About 
three fourths of the useful and rare algae I have found in the last 
five years were obtained from ditches along a railroad within a 
quarter of a mile of its length. The collector will soon find in his 
neighborhood the best place where these plauts are found. By 
visiting such a place frequently for only a single season, one will 
eventually be surprised at the success attained. One will soon be 
able to tell almost at a glance the common forms of cryptogams 
without microscopical examination, and even the stages of develop- 
ment in which they are. It must, however, be remembered that 
experience fraught with many a failure is the best instructor, but 
also that a few remarkable successes in obtaining rare algae will 
make the collector and grower of these plants feel more than repaid 
for his efforts. 
Birds Found in St. Joseph Co., Ind., Each Day in 
une, 1909. 
BROTHER ALPHONSUS, C. S. C. 
As May is the month when most of the birds migrate north- 
ward, so June is the nesting time for most of them. And as more 
species are seen during their migrations than may be found in any 
one locality when the nesting season begins, the total number of 
species seen will be considerably smaller in June than in May. 
