144 
THE CONDOR 
VOL. V 
the lake only a few miles from the outlet of the lake into the Santiago; the two 
sections of what is really the same stream thus, after Spanish fashion, bearing 
distinct names. 
Our object in visiting this point was to learn as much as possible about the 
water-fowl which winter abundantly in the marshes bordering the east end of the 
lake and along the lower Lerma. 
By invitation of an American in charge of a plantation near Ocotlan we em- 
barked on Christmas day with our host and his wife in one of the large sail boats 
used for the commerce between the towns on the lake, for a trip to the mouth of 
the T^erma on a hunt for geese and ducks. The boat was large and apparently 
build on the model of a flat iron with a thatched roof of rushes over the stern, and 
with such high sides that one could walk comfortably about on the flat bottom or 
climb up to the bow where a decked space covering the forward third of the boat 
gave a place where one could lie and watch the picturesque views furnished by 
the mountains which enclose the lake on nearly all sides. A large square sail 
caught the light breeze and drew us slowly away from shore and for some time I 
strained my eyes to but little purpose for signs of bird life. In the afternoon we 
reached the shore near the mouth of the Lerma and saw several species of herons 
and ducks about patches of rushes, and many cormorants were flying in pairs or in 
small parties drawn out in line and at a distance not easily distinguishable from 
geese. The cormorants \\ ere all headed toward a common point in the shallow 
part of the lake, beyond the mouth of the river, which our native boatmen assured 
us was their roosting place. The winter climate is delightful in this region and as 
Christmas night closed down we sat on the deck, while we drifted slowly along 
near the reedy shore, and watched the most brilliant display of stars come out as 
the rich afterglow faded away. In the intense blackness of the shoreline the 
cheerful twinkling of lights here and there marked the locations of villages and 
followed the tolling of the vesper bells that came to us, mellowed by distance, at tw'i- 
light. There were no signs of the expected geese but from time to time the voices 
of other waterfowl arose on the adjacent marsh, exciting pleasant anticipations for 
the coming day. With some reluctance we left the beauties of the night and 
.sought our blankets. Just as we were drifting into forgetfulness a medley of 
clanging notes awoke us and we heard a flock of white-fronted geese {Anser gatn- 
beli') settle near us in a pond on shore. 
The next morning several flocks of geese left the ponds in the vicinity soon 
after daybreak and a large number of cormorants dispersed from the part of the 
lake where they had gathered the evening before. All day until the middle of the 
afternoon we poled about in the shallows at this end of the lake among patches of 
reeds and marsh grass with stretches of open water betw'een and w'ere very suc- 
cessful in securing numerous species of waterfowl. In the afternoon a long line of 
whitened bushes growdng in the open water some distance away was pointed out 
by our host who said he had passed there a short time before and found a lot of 
cormorants nesting in them. I could scarcely credit this but the whitened appear- 
ance of the bushes showed that the birds used the plaee as a roost at least and I 
decided to investigate. As w^e poled near enough we saw that the bushes, or 
small trees which projected twelve or fifteen feet from the water were full of cor- 
morants and many could be seen standing on ne.sts. We stopped the boat when 
within one hundred yards and after removing our clothing slid cautiously over- 
board into from three to four feet of water. Camera in hand Goldman and I 
stalked the birds to within about forty yards and secured a few exposures. The 
