63 



present in numbers above normal. Then, too, the person in charge 

 of the branch of the Nebraska Experiment Station located near that 

 place reported like conditions. As the train approached Gothen- 

 burg, and from that point as far eastward as Kearney, some signs 

 of local abundance and slight injury by two or three species were 

 apparent. Now and then corn fields and weed patches adjoining 

 alfalfa fields showed their ravages. In two instances magnificent 

 examples of the usefulness of birds as locust destroyers were noted. 

 In both cases the birds in question were gulls, possibly Franklin's 

 or the laughing gull. These birds were j^resent in flocks of fifty or 

 more and were congregated on alfalfa fields wdiich showed decided 

 marks of locust injuries; and it was plainly evident from their actions 

 that the birds were feeding, since some of them were on the ground 

 and others in the air. One of these flocks was near Gothenburg and 

 the other not far from Kearney. Some days afterwards a gentle- 

 man from the latter place told me of a similar sight that he himself 

 had witnessed. It is probable that these birds were nesting on the 

 artificial lakes made by damming up the mouths of ravines in con- 

 nection with irrigation and power ditches in the vicinity, and were 

 occupied in foraging. 



There appeared to be no locust injuries along the Platte Valley 

 much lower down stream than Kearney, although it was followed as 

 far as Grand Island, where a change was made to the Burlington 

 road so as to reach Lincoln via Aurora and York. 



Leaving home again on August 10, and going by way of the 

 Chicago and Northwestern Railroad up the Elkhorn, the w^riter did 

 not observe hoppers in hurtful numbers east of Chadron and Craw- 

 ford on the Little White River. Even here a comparison with con- 

 ditions as observed by the writer a year ago showed the pest to be 

 largely on the decline. Scarcely any traces of injury were visible 

 even about the edges of cornfields adjoining alfalfa and weed 

 patches — the localities most commonly frequented by the species of 

 locusts most abundant here. The journey was continued westward 

 as far as Casper, Wyo., where in 1901 considerable grasshopper injury 

 occurred,, as observed by the writer during a visit made at the time. 

 A trip into the country a few miles from Casper showed but few 

 locusts. Even the usually abundant prairie or plains forms were 

 below the normal in numbers, and in some places decidedly scarce. 

 Inquiries among ranchmen elicited the information that the pest was 

 gradually becoming scarcer throughout the alfalfa growing district 

 to the southeast of the town, where some marked damage had been 

 done by the insects as late as a year ago. Returning to Crawford, 

 Nebr., a stop was made in order to observe conditions away from 

 the town and railroad. The result vas as stated for Casper. From 

 here the writer returned to Lincoln over the Billings and Black Hills 



