16 THE. “AtU; DIU, B10 NB UCD Lane 
CHICAGOLAND NATURE LOVERS have been enjoying the educational TV pro- 
gram, “Reading the Landscape” presented on Channel 11 at 7:30 p.m. Fri- 
days by Mrs. May T. Watts, naturalist of the Morton Arboretum. This is 
essentially the same course she has given before her adult evening classes 
at the Arboretum for many years. Her book of nature lore, also called 
“Reading the Landscape,” is scheduled for publication this June, and will 
soon be available at the bookstores. If the book follows the pattern of her 
courses, it should make wonderful reading. 
4835 Wabansia Ave., Chicago 39, Ill. 
re fl et 
Book Review 
Mass Waterfowl Migration 
A SPECTACULAR WATERFOWL MIGRATION THROUGH CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA, 
compiled and written by Frank C. Bellrose, Natural History Survey Divi- 
sion, Urbana, Illinois, 1957. 24 pages, including halftones, duck population 
charts, and weather maps. “Survey Biological Notes No. 36.” Submitted by 
Dr. Thomas G. Scott, head of the Section of Wildlife Research at Urbana. 
Although this is simply a report of an unusual biological event, it makes 
exciting reading. About October 31, 1955, as a massive low pressure area. 
and cold weather front swept down from northern Canada, a tremendous 
migration of ducks took place. Biologists in the field had seen nothing like 
it since the great flight ahead of the Armistice Day storm of 1940. It was 
as if most of the ducks in the Canadian breeding grounds decided to rise 
and fiy south at the same time, down the celebrated Mississippi Flyway. As 
luck would have it, November 1 was the day all the field biologists in the 
Middle West were to take a census, and so highly accurate observations and 
reports were made. Mr. Bellrose has gathered all of this data into an im- 
pressive story. 
For anyone who has spent some days along the shores of the Illinois and 
other rivers on the Mississippi Flyway during fall migration, the account 
stirs up vivid memories of V’s of ducks stretched across low hanging gray 
clouds as far as the eye can see. The pictures give some idea of the great 
concentrations of ducks of all species, notably mallards, that swept past in 
almost a continuous flock for the greater part of a day. Some idea of the 
great volume of this migration can be gained from the statistics: in Illinois 
(round numbers) the duck population rose from 359,000 to 815,000 between 
November 1 and 2, 1955; in Louisiana, between October 31 and November 
4, the figures went from 1,152,000 to 3,407,000. This is the kind of booklet 
that hunters and birdwatchers alike can read and enjoy. 
Paul H. Lobik, 4835 Wabansia Ave., Chicago 39, Ill. 
