154 
THE CONDOR 
Von. XI 
The islands are rocky and barren except for occasional bunches of grass and 
wild pineapples, and are a wild, picturesque habitat for the Heermann Gull. 
Pasadena , California . 
FALL NOTES FROM EASTERN KANSAS 
By ALEX. WETMORE 
T HE material upon which this paper is based, consists of nearly six hundred 
skins, collected by Mr. Charles D. Bunker and myself on two collecting 
trips in the same region. 
This locality is known as Washington Creek, and lies about eight miles in a 
direct line southwest of Lawrence, Kansas, in the edge of the hills, and is back 
from the main traveled roads running into the hills. The draws are timbered with 
oaks and elms, with a thick undergrowth of buck-brush and briars in places. There 
are two creeks here: Washington Creek, and a smaller one known as Hasty Creek, 
both lying to the west. One line of hills is bare of timber, being covered with 
sumachs and tall scattering weeds, with numerous rocky points projecting from it, 
and a level valley lying below. Along Washington Creek are some fair-sized 
growths of heavy bottom timber. 
Our two trips were made from September 14 to 21, 1907, and September 11 to 
18, 1908, and were made in the interests of the Kansas University Museum, our 
object being to collect birds mainly, together with what mammals offered them- 
selves. Camp was made both times in a draw where it widened between two hills, 
and a tent was pitcht to sleep in, while we used an old two-roomed cabin for a 
work room. The mornings were spent in collecting and the afternoons in preparing 
specimens. 
During 1907 we had very poor weather, as the wind blew almost constantly 
from the southwest, and it was excessively hot. On only two or three days was it 
quiet, and the birds in consequence remained well under cover. We had one light 
rain during the night, which, however, did not hinder our field work. The second 
year the weather was more in our favor, as what wind there was came mostly from 
the north, and favored rather than hindered migration. One light rain fell during 
this year also. 
Most of our collecting was done within a radius of three miles of camp, and in 
this territory we had a great variety of ground, ranging from small marshes to 
barren hill-tops. The tall trees about camp attracted the birds, and many of our 
meals were interrupted by a chase after a desirable specimen, which frequently was 
pursued into the nearby timber. 
It is a matter of some interest to note the difference in the results obtained on 
the two trips. During 1907, with the strong southwest winds, migration was 
practically almost at a standstill, and a great share of the birds obtained were the 
resident species. Several of the residents, such as Hylocichla mustelina , Spiza 
americana , and Setophaga ruti cilia were taken, while I dim a mississippiensis 
could have drifted up from the south under the impulse of that same wind. The 
season seemed less advanced, too, as was shown in the plumage of the birds, many 
of those taken being in full molt. 
The next year this was entirely changed. Many of the smaller migrants were 
