10 



alter its character. As is well known, this society was formed of the 

 most prominent ornithologists of North America, and gathered to itself 

 the best of the younger active field workers. 



When, therefore, it was announced that, at the first meeting of the 

 new Union, " a committee was also appointed on the ' migration of birds.' 

 to co-operate with Mr. W. W. Cooke in connection with his work on 

 this subject in the Mississippi Valley, and consists of the following 

 gentlemen, with power to add to their number: Merriam, Brown, Pur- 

 die, Wheaton, Chamberlain, Grinnell, Henshaw, Cory, Merrill, Fisher, 

 Bicknell, Mearns, and Mcllwraith,"* a new impulse was given to the 

 work, and ornithologists all over the district hastened to send their 

 offers of aid. 



Under the efficient management of the chairman of the committee, 

 Dr. C. Hart Merriam, arrangements for the spring campaign were soon 

 completed. The whole of the United States, British America, and Alaska 

 were included in the scheme, and the field was divided into fourteen 

 districts, each under the charge of its own superintendent. The su- 

 perintendency of the work in the Mississippi Valley remained in the 

 same hands as for the two previous years, and the district was made to 

 include Mississippi, the portions of Kentucky and Tennessee west of 

 the Tennessee river 9 Illinois, Wisconsin, the northern peninsula of 

 Michigan, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Texas, In- 

 dian Territory, Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, and Manitoba. 



The work begun in the Mississippi Valley December 1, 1883, under 

 the auspices of the American Ornithologists' Union, has been carried 

 on uninterruptedly to the present date. Its progress has been chron- 

 icled from time to time in The Auk, and in the Ornithologist and Oolo- 

 gist, in which latter magazine, for May, 1884, appeared a list of the 

 observers and a rough map of the district, showing the location of the 

 stations. Since then the names of many new observers have been added 

 until the number at the close of the season of 1884 was 160. Reports 

 on spring migration in 1884 were received from 109 stations. These 

 reports may be characterized as follows: Merely a few notes, 25 ; a 

 scattered report on the whole or a part of the migration, 50 ; a full re- 

 port on the whole migration, 34. These 109 stations were distributed 

 over the Mississippi Valley as follows : Mississippi, 6 ; Tennessee, 1 ; 

 Illinois, 22 $ Wisconsin, 14 ; Louisiana, 2 ; Arkansas, 1 ; Missouri, 9 ; 

 Iowa, 18 5 Minnesota, 11 5 Texas, 4 5 Indian Territory, 2 ; Kansas, 5 ; 

 Nebraska, 3 ; Dakota, 8, and Manitoba, 3. 



Eeports were received on the fall migration of 1884 from about half a 

 dozen observers. Individually, these reports were of a high grade of 

 excellence, but their number was too small to allow of any accurate 

 tracing of the southward movements of the various species. They will 

 be found incorporated in the body of this report. 



* Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Vol. VIII, 1883, p. 225. 



