BIRD MIGRATION IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 
By W. W. Cooke. 
In the winter of 188182 the attempt was made to secure the assist- 
‘ance of the ornithologists of Iowa in studying the migrations of birds ; 
but a change of residence on the part of the author from Iowa to Minn- 
-esota necessitated a modification of the original scheme, and it was de- 
cided to increase the size of the aréa to be investigated so as to include 
the whole Mississippi Valley. All the ornithologists of that district were 
invited to co-operate by contributing notes on the winter birds and re- 
porting dates of the spring arrivals. Answers were received from 26 
persons who promised to aid in the work, but at the end of the season 
it was found that but 13 had actually forwarded observations. These © 
13 were distributed as follows: Arkansas, 1; Missouri, 2; Kansas, 1; 
Iinois, 3; Nebraska, 1; Iowa, 2; Minnesota, 2; Wisconsin, 1. Thus 
it will be seen that a small part only of the Mississippi Valley was rep- 
resented. The notes contributed were published, without comment 
or change, in Forest and Stream for October, November, and Decem- 
ber, 1882. 
The same work was undertaken for the spring of 1883, and, by a lib- 
eral use of the press, @ much larger corps of observers was obtained. 
The names of 42 persons were received, but of these 26 only furnished 
reports. They were distributed as tollows: Texas, 1; Mississippi, 2 ; 
Tennessee, 1; Kansas, 2; Arkansas, 1; Missouri, 3; Illinois, 7; Iowa, 
4; Wisconsin, 2; Minnesota, 3—thus leaving Louisiana, Indian Terri. 
tory, Nebraska, and Dakota with no representatives. 
The larger part of the hundreds of notes received from these observ- 
ers was never written up, and for that reason frequent reference will 
be made to them in the present report.* Some of the species were 
treated in the Ornithologist and Oolégist for 1883, and the full notes 
from two of the stations appeared in the American Field for. December, 
1883, and January, 1884, and were afterwards issued as Bulletin No. 1 
of the Ridgway Ornithological Club of Chicago. 
The founding of the American Ornithologists’ Union (in September, 
1883) greatly enlarged the scope of the work, but did not materially 
[* Since the above was written most of these notes have been printed in the Orni- 
thologist and Odlogist.—C. H. M.] 
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