Wilson, on Birds at the Mouth of Ohio River 
95 
Squirrels, raccoons, and opossums keep fairly plentiful, in spite 
of a pretty general disregard of game laws. 
About two miles above Wicklilfe, in a bend of the Missis- 
sippi, there is a very extensive sandbar, which varies in size 
from year to year, but is usually about a mile long and half a 
mile wide. When the water is low this bar is a place dear to 
the bird lover, for the refuse from Cairo washed ashore here 
and the dead bodies of mussels attract many birds of rare 
beauty, some of which are not commonly seen, except on the 
Mississippi, in the interior of the United States. 
Unfortunately, I have never had a spring vacation in this 
locality, nor have I been on hand to witness the real waves of 
fall migrants^. Consequently, my list includes only the resi- 
dents, most of the summer residents, and some of the earlier 
fall migrants. My records in the general period indicated 
above, cover the years 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1921. In 
1915, 1917 and 1921 I camped for several days in the bottom, 
in the lake country. When not attending to camp duties I 
made long journeys to less-frequented ponds and marshes, 
often being paid for my pains by catching a good string of 
bream, crappies, and sun fish, and by seeing a new bird or two. 
One of the most unfortunate things in bird study is that 
this section has never been studied exhaustively by ornitholo- 
gists. Dr. L. O. Finder, now of Versailles, Kentucky, made a 
valuable study of birds in Fulton County, thirty miles south 
of Wickliffe, and published the results in Auk in 1889. The 
two sections, however, differ considerably. I am hoping that 
this brief study will attract the attention of some experienced 
or amateur bird student in that locality, and that a few years 
hence a more exhaustive study may be made of the “ big bot- 
toms,’’ especially as the projected drainage plans will mater- 
ially change bird life there. 
1. Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) . 
A flock of six or eight seen near the river, August 27, 1917. 
2. Common Tern {Sterna Mrunclo). 
A few seen in 1915, 1917 and 1918, 1917 being the best year. I found 
only one in 1921. 
3. Black Tern (Hydroclieliclon nigra surinmnensis ) . 
Seen commonly in 1915, 1917 and 1918, being most abundant along 
the sandbar in 1917. At Hickman, thirty miles south of the month of 
the Ohio, on September 9, 1917, I saw a very large flock just after a se- 
vere storm, flying low down over the gigantic waves. 
