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White Waterlilies, Tules and a Wooded Island in the Background—a Typical Swan 
Lake Scene.—Photo by Harry C. Oberholser. 
Lynnaea siagnalis appressa 
Galba palustris 
Planorbis trivolvis 
Physa hetcrostropha 
Birds 
Water-birds breed in abundance on this lake, 
among them several species of ducks. The game 
birds most commonly found here in summer are 
the mallard, blue-winged teal, redhead, lesser 
scaup, ruddy duck, sora rail, Florida gallinule, 
and American coot. The shoveller, pintail, and 
canvas-back also occur, but less commonly. 
Other water-birds of more or less importance 
that breed abundantly or commonly on this lake 
are the Holboell grebe, American eared grebe, 
pied-billed grebe, black tern, black-crowned night 
heron, and killdeer. A few marsh birds that are 
of more or less economic interest inhabit the 
lake. These are the belted kingfisher, the yel¬ 
low-headed blackbird, the red-winged blackbird, 
and the long-billed marsh wren. 
Of insectivorous land birds there is a consider¬ 
able list, and such birds occur chiefly on the 
wooded islands and about the shores of the lake. 
The accompanying report contains a list of all 
the birds noted by the writer during his three 
days of observation. 
Conclusions 
It is very evident that Swan Lake, Minnesota, 
is at the present time an unusually attractive re¬ 
sort for waterfowl of all kinds. This is due to 
its favorable location, to its relatively shallow, 
fresh, clear water and the consequent abundant 
growth of water vegetation suitable for cover, 
nesting sites, and food. In fact it possesses in 
comparative abundance nearly all of the best 
duck food plants in the United States, and in this 
respect is almost ideal. Thus this lake is a 
valuable asset to the State as an aid in the con¬ 
servation of the game supply, and its margins 
are attractive to many insectivorous birds that 
are of great value to the farmer. 
To lower the level of this lake to any consid¬ 
erable degree would inevitably cause the disap¬ 
pearance of much of its present kind of vegeta¬ 
tion and greatly impair, if not destroy, its value 
as a waterfowl resort, both during the breeding 
season and in the autumn. Furthermore, the 
lowering of the lake level would provide a large 
area of additional breeding ground for the red¬ 
winged and yellow-headed blackbirds, both of 
which nest in abundance about the lake, and if 
their numbers were to greatly increase they 
would be liable to prove a menace to agricultural 
crops in the vicinity. 
Swan Lake is in fact at the. present time one 
of the two or three best waterfowl lakes in Min¬ 
nesota, and by reason of its location, size, and 
abundant food supply, is not excelled in import¬ 
ance as a resort for duck and other water j birds 
by any lake in any of the states of the Great 
Plains region. Therefore, to drain or much to 
lower the level of its water would be nothing 
short of a calamity to the State of Minnesota. 
in est ot the American Coot—One of the Many 
Species of Waterfowl Nesting at Swan Lake.— 
Photo by Harry C. Oberholser. 
Botanist, and DC. Mabbott, Assistant Biologist, 
Ju y 14 to 20, 1917. These men have furnished 
separate reports upon which the following sum¬ 
mary is based: 
Semi-submerged plants, including chiefly two 
species of bulrushes and one of reed, occupy 
about four-fifths of the entire area of the lake, 
these plants afford ideal cover for breeding 
birds and the seeds of bulrushes are an import¬ 
ant tood for wild ducks. 
VEGETATION 
The vegetation of Swan Lake, Nicollet County, 
Minnesota, was examined by F. P. Metcalf, 
