14 BIRDS OF ARKANSAS. 



accidental visitors. Many species listed as summer residents and 

 winter residents occur also more abundantly as transients. More 

 thorough field investigations will doubtless increase the number of 

 birds known to occur in the State to about 300 forms. 



LIST OF SPECIES. 



Pied-billed Grebe. Podilymbus podiceps. 



This little grebe, known locally as "didapper" and "hell-diver," 

 may be found during the spring and fall migrations on almost any 

 lake or slough in the State. In the nesting season, however, it is 

 rare, and the only record at hand is that of a bird which I saw at 

 Wilmot on June 29. The last migrants at Clinton were reported 

 November 5 (Pleas, 1890), but a few were seen between November 



15 and 21 (McAtee, 1910) at Mud Lake, St. Francis County; Turrell, 

 Crittenden County; and Menasha Lake, Mississippi County. It is 

 possible that small numbers may spend the winter in the Sunken 

 Lands. 



The demand for grebes' feathers for millinery has worked havoc 

 among the larger species, and doubtless this little bird has suffered 

 to some extent with the rest; but its small size, retiring habits, and 

 wonderful diving powers preserve it in a measure from destruction, 

 and under present conditions it is likely to hold its own. It is a 

 harmless and interesting bird and should be everywhere protected. 



Loon. Gavia immer. 



The loon breeds from the Arctic Ocean south to Iowa and Illinois 

 and winters from southern Canada to the Gulf coast. It probably 

 occurs in Arkansas as an uncommon spring and fall migrant and 

 has once been reported as a winter resident — at Clinton, in 1890. 



Herring Gull. Larus argentatus. 



The herring gull, the largest of its family found in the Mississippi 

 Valley, is widely distributed in both North America and Europe, 

 chiefly along the seacoasts and on large lakes and rivers. It has 

 been reported in winter near Clinton and probably occurs regularly 

 in migration. Mr. S. C. Dowell, of Walnut Ridge, has a specimen 

 which was killed in the vicinity of that town. 



Ring-billed Gull. Larus delawarensis. 



The ringbill breeds in Canada and the northern United States and 

 winters from the Great Lakes south to Mexico and Cuba. The only 

 definite record from Arkansas is that of a bird in the possession of 

 Mr. S. C. Dowell, which was killed near Walnut Ridge, but the 

 species is doubtless a fairly common migrant in both spring and fall. 



