4 BULLETIN 672, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
that the bodies of 44,462 wild ducks were gathered and buried 
between August 22 and September 21. 
In 1913 a few sick birds were noted in the Bear River marshes 
early in summer, but the trouble was not serious until September. 
On September 4 Joe Cook reported 600 or more dead birds on some 
recently flooded flats near the mouth of Channel 3. Three days 
later men were brought down to pick up the dead birds, and the 
work continued until September 26. In this period V. F. Davis 
records that 46,723 ducks were buried. Attempt was made to 
clean up only those birds lying in the open. These formed but a 
small part, so that the figures given probably represent less than 20 
per cent of the birds that actually died. In gathering these birds 
men traveled over the soft mud of the flats. The dead ducks were 
speared with pitchforks and thrown into tubs or boats. Where the 
soil permitted, these bodies were buried in trenches dug for the pur- 
pose. Elsewhere they were piled up, covered with rushes, and 
finally mud was thrown on them. Some of these piles of bodies 
were still to be seen during the summer of 1916. In both 1912 and 
1913 the sickness ceased shortly after the opening of the hunting 
season. During the first few days of October in those years sick 
birds were common, and hunters often set out helpless ducks in front 
of their blinds as decoys for the healthy birds. 
In 1914 sick birds first appeared about July 1, and although the 
trouble developed to a considerable extent, conditions were much 
better than in any other year since 1910. Comparatively few birds 
were lost in the Jordan River marshes, but conditions were not so 
satisfactory on the lower channels of the Weber. On August 21 
probably between 8,000 and 10,000 ducks lay dead along the north 
channel in a distance of 2 miles (PI. I, fig. 1). At the same time 
many helpless birds were in the stagnant water, and a large number 
unable to fly walked off across the flats at near approach. Birds 
continued to die here until about September 20. On the Bear River 
marshes two sick birds were found on July 15, and others had been 
reported earlier. Sick birds were numerous on August 11, and by 
August 20 the trouble was at its height. The last sick bird for the 
season was seen on September 27. 
In 1915 the Jordan River marshes were drained, and the ducks 
frequenting them were driven elsewhere. The season proved to be 
abnormally dry, and practically no water passed the irrigation dams 
across the rivers after the 1st of July. The broad flats at the 
mouth of the Weber River were entirely bare and remained so until 
fall. In the Bear River region North Bay was dry, while only a 
narrow channel led through South Bay to the lake. The major part 
of the ducks normally found here were forced to go elsewhere, and 
conditions were such that there were few sick birds among those that 
