GULLS ATSTD TERNS. 15 



[Franklin G-xill. Larus franUini. 



This small black-headed gull is a common summer resident in the upper Mississippi 

 Valley from Iowa north to southern Canada, and winters from the Gulf coast southward 

 to South America. It undoubtedly occurs in Arkansas in migration.] 



Bonaparte GuU. Larus Philadelphia. 



This species, one of the smallest of the gulls, is probably a regular, 

 though uncommon, transient visitant. No recent records of its 

 occurrence are at hand, but Audubon mentions a specimen which he 

 shot November 12, 1820, on the Mississippi River, a few miles below 

 the mouth of the Arkansas.' 



[Forster Tern. Sterna forsteri. 



This tern is widely distributed in the Mississippi Valley, breeding on the coasts of 

 Louisiana and Texas and also from Nebraska and Illiriois northward. It is recorded 

 as a regular transient visitant in Missouri, and probably occurs in Arkansas.] 



[Least Tern. Sterna antillarum. 



The least tern is known as a summer resident in the Mississippi Valley, formerly 

 common, now very rare as a result of persecution by plumage hunters. It formerly 

 bred north to Iowa and Nebraska and has been observed in summer in recent years at 

 Tallulah, La.^ Oberholser found it fairly common in June, 1902, near Texarkana, 

 Tex . , within a few miles of the Arkansas line . In former years it undoubtedly occurred 

 in Arkansas and it may still be found in the State.] 



[Black Tern. Hydrochelidon nigra surinamensis. 



The black tern breeds from Missouri and Ohio northward to northern Canada and 

 winters south of the United States. It undoubtedly occurs regularly in Arkansas as 

 a spring and fall migrant.] 



Water Turkey. Anhinga anhinga. 



The water turkey or "snake bird" is fairly common locally in the 

 swamps of eastern Arkansas. It breeds at Helena^ Wihnotj and 

 Walker Lake and has been recorded from Osceola and Newport: — at 

 the last-named place in winter. 



The birds are frequently hunted for food or sporty and as they are 

 easily approached, their numbers have been much reduced. If not 

 protected by the enforcement of the existing game law, the species 

 is likely to be exterminated. A bird so harmless and iaterestiag 

 should be preserved for future generations. 



Double-crested Cormorant. Phalacrocorax auritus auritus. 



Cormorants were formerly abundant in the rivers and swamps of 

 eastern Arkansas, but as a result of the drainage and settlement of 

 the land they are now found only in the. wilder and more remote 

 sections, where they are comparatively free from persecution. A 

 large colony, probably the only large one now remaining in the State, 



1 Om. Biog., rv, 212, 1838. = Beyer, Allison, and Kopman, Aiik, XXIV, p. 315, 1907, 



