Mearns on Birds at Fort Klamath. 
Ifil 
A PARTIAL LIST OF THE BIRDS OF FORT KLAMATH, 
OREGON 1 , COLLECTED BY LIEUTENANT WILLIS WIT- 
TIC H, U. S. A., WITH ANNOTATIONS AND ADDITIONS 
BY THE COLLECTOR. 
BY EDGAR A. MEARNS. 
This article is compiled from notes and collections forwarded to 
me, at different times, by Lieutenant Willis Wittich, during his 
residence of four vears at Fort Klamath. The fort is situated in 
Jackson County, in Southwestern Oregon. Latitude, 42° 43' ; 
longitude 121° 55";* altitude, 4,200 feet above the sea, — above 
the limit of oak-trees. It is on the eastern margin of a valley in the 
Cascade Mountains. The valley runs north and south, is about 
twenty miles long, and is seven miles wide at the point where the 
post is located. Toward the south it widens somewhat, and extends 
to Upper Klamath Lake, about seven miles distant. High hills 
and mountains wall in the valley on the north, east, and west. 
Among them, Scott’s Peak is the most piominent to the north, 
Mount Pitt in the range to the east, and farther south in the same 
range is seen, rising in the distance, the perpetually snow-clad sum- 
mit of Mount Shasta. Williamson’s River, flowing from the north- 
eastward, empties into Upper Klamath Lake at a point about 
twelve miles from the post. There are, besides, six streams, the 
waters of all of which, excepting one, are of crystal clearness, 
which flow through the valley within a short distance of the post. 
Ducks, Geese, and other Water-fowl, abound upon the lake and 
marshes in the neighborhood of Wood River, at all seasons of the 
year. The country is well forested in most places. The trees are 
of large size, and mainly evergreens, — pine, fir, spruce, and juni- 
per, — with a mingling of aspens. 
Upper Klamath Lake is one of a chain of large lakes composing 
the Klamath Basin. These lakes abound in shoal water and low 
islands, and are frequently bordered by marshes of tule. “ These 
wide surfaces, .... densely covered with rushes, afford most con- 
venient retreats for a large number of swimming and wading birds, 
* Extracted from the Official Record of the Quartermaster Department of the 
Army. 
VOL. IV. 
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