PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY THE IOWA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION VOL. XV SEPTEMBER, 1945 NO. 3 OFFICERS OF THE IOWA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION President— Dr. J. Harold Ennis, Mt. Vernon, Iowa Vice-President — Charles C. Ayres, Jr., Ottumwa, Iowa Sec ’y-Treas. — Miss Lillian Serbousek, 1226 Second St. S.W., Cedar Rapids, Iowa Librarian — Ur, Warren N. Keck, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Editor — Fred J. Pierce, Winthrop, Iowa Executive Council: ! Dr. Robert F. Vane, Iowa City, Iowa [ Mrs. Janet DuMont, Des Moines, Iowa 1 Miss Margaret Dorweiler, Cedar Falls, Iowa — I The Iowa Ornithologists’ Union was organized at Ames, Iowa, February 28, I 1923, for the study and protection of native birds and to promote fraternal re- j lations among Iowa bird students. The central design of the Union’s official seal is the Eastern Goldfinch, designated | State Bird of Iowa in 1933. Publications of the Union: Mimeographed letters, 1923-1928; 'The Bulletin/ ■ | 1929-1930; Iowa Bird Life,’ beginning 1931. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $1.00 a year (includes membership [ dues). Single copies 25c each. Claims for missing or defective j copies of the magazine should be made within six months of date ■ of issue. Keep the Editor informed of your correct address. EDITORIAL AND PUBLICATION OFFICE WINTHROP, IOWA Entered he second class matter February 9. 1932, at the po&t office at Winthrop, Iowa, under the Act of March 3, 1879. IOWA BIRD LIFE— XV, 1945 38 CREDIT ISLAND This i gland in the Mississippi River at Davenport is now a city park. It is the site of a battle between the Americans and the British and their Indian allies in 1814. Upper view shows one of the roads which winds through the park. Lower view shows the shore line of the island. DAVENPORT BIRD CONCERT 39 THE DAVENPORT MAY DAWN BIRD CONCERT By JOHN H. BAILEY Director, Davenport Public Museum DAVENPORT, IOWA For the past 20 years, alarm clocks have been sounding at 3:30 a.m, in the homes of bird lovers in Davenport to arouse them for the annual bird concert. Since 1926, the Davenport Public Museum has been sponsoring a Dawn Bird Concert around the first of May each year. When J, Herman Paarmann became Curator of the (then) Daven- port Academy of Sciences in 1902, bird study in Davenport received a new impetus. Many were the lectures Paarmann delivered on the various aspects of bird life. Finally through his efforts, the Academy formed a bird committee which in March, 1914, sponsored a bird- house contest with prizes for the best houses in various classifications. This committee organized the Academy Bird Club in January, 1915, The object of this club, taken from its constitution, was “the increase and protection of our local wild birds, and the stimulation of interest in bird lif The first officers were: President, William H. Korn; Vice-Pres., Dr. Kunno H. Struck; Secy.-Treas., J. H. Paarmann. An- other birdhouse contest was held that spring. An early morning bird hike was taken by the club on May 16, 1915, and a record was kept of the hour at which each bird was first heard. The Purple Martins won first prize with a 3:30 a.m. duet. So successful was this trip to several large yards in the city of Davenport, the next week the club ventured across the Mississippi and went to the wilds of Blackhawk Watchtower (now Blackhawk State Park). From then on the club held several field trips each spring and gained the facetious title of the “Tweet-Tweet Club”. The club meetings and field trips seem to have died out after 1921, as the last record we have of a trip by the Bird Club was on April 8, 1921. The enthusiasts such as Dr. Struck and Paarmann continued their interest in bird-lore. Both men had launched out into photographing birds and making lantern slides, which they colored by hand. Dr. Struck even carried on this activity up to within recent years with the use of kodachrome film. Interest remained latent until 1926, when Paarmann and Struck announced that the Museum would hold a May Dawn Bird Concert at Credit Island on May 23. To show that interest in bird-lore had only been dormant, nearly 200 people showed up for the two-hour hike around the Island followed by a ham-and-egg breakfast at the Island Inn . Since then every May has found the bird students of Davenport, Rock Island and Moline gathering in the gray dawn of the morning around a blazing fire in the fireplace of Credit Island Inn. From this spot groups have journeyed out and around the Island to be in position for the first waking songs of the Island’s feathered inhabitants. At six they have gathered for breakfast and usually some short talk on one or another phase of bird-lore. The after-breakfast talks have ranged in theme from “Birds’ Effect on Man” to “Birds of the Past”, and even quizzes have been given with prizes for the ones who knew all the answers. Newspaper reporters have covered the event from all angles, some- times writing as if one of the birds were doing the reporting. Being called a concert, there has many times been brought in the analogy of a symphonic orchestra or a Metropolitan concert. Here is what was said in the announcement for the first of the May Dawn Concerts, in the ‘Davenport Democrat 11 : “As the veil of nl^ht is raised, the Wood Thrush will sing a greeting to the dawn, the violin obligato part being rendered by the Wood Pewee. A band of woodpeckers has been en- gaged to give an imitation of a snare drum.” One participant wrote a letter to the editor on how his wife dragged 40 IOWA BIRD LIFE— XV, 1945 him reluctant from his bed to attend the concert, but by the end of the letter, he was all for it and ready to go again the next year. Paarmann passed away in July, 1927, and as a tribute to his memory, the Museum has carried on the May Dawn Bird Concert. Interest in this event has continued, and Dr, Struck always attended until recent years when his health became impaired so that he was unable to take part. Naturally, the war has hampered the holding of the Concert some- what, the most serious setback being the closing of the restaurant in the Inn. Here the Museum staff tried to arise to the occasion, and by serving a simple breakfast with no ration points needed, a breakfast of sorts has been served the last three years. With the brighter pros- pects of 1946 ahead, we are looking forward to larger crowds of bird lovers and, if possible, more bird musicians to entertain us! WARBLERS SEEN FROM MY WINDOW By MRS. W. C. DE LONG CLARION, IOWA (With drawings by E. W. Steffen) On May 21, 1945, the town of Clarion was full of migrating warblers, forced down no doubt by the storm of the preceding night. I watched them in my yard from seven o'clock in the morning until I could no longer see them at night. The next day a few remained, but the majority of them had migrated north- ward. It was a cold, rainy day with the temperature not reaching above 60 degrees. I observed 14 different species of warblers. There must have been be- tween 50 and 100 warblers in my own yard. Among them were Redstarts in great numbers. There were four males in the red and black plumage, a few males in the brown and orange plum- age showing black on their throats, while the majority were females. They flitted about from the plum thicket to the sumac trees, darting out into the air with a snap of the bill and flirt of the tail, capturing gnats and insects like true flycatchers. The next numerous seemed to be the Northern Yellow-throats, both males and females. BLACK -THROATED GREEN WARBLER Whenever I wanted to see the Wilson's Warblers, I looked out of a window where I could see the peony bushes, for they were restlessly and quickly moving about among the bushes, darting out into the air after insects on the wing, A box elder tree in the back yard spreads its branches away out and a few hang way down near the kitchen window by the breakfast table. At noon while eating lunch, we watched many warblers searching the branches of this tree and had close views of them. A strong wind blew the branch to and fro near the window, but a Nashville Warbler held on and kept swinging with it, I watched four Orange-crowned and two Nashvilles search every leaf and bud on a dogwood bush that I could see from the window by the kitchen-sink. I have never before seen the orange on his crown or the chestnut patch on the Nashville, but from the window I could see it very plainly on both species. The Orange-crowned warbler would get WARBLERS SEEN FROM MY WINDOW 41 TENNESSEE WARBLER away out on the buds of the dogwood and hang up-side down while feeding, much like the Chickadees. Among the many warblers that were dancing and swinging from one branch to another were the dull-colored Ten- nessees. They came late this year. I did not hear one singing until May 20, There are two Norway spruce trees in the front of the house and here a Black-throated Green Warbler could be seen. He stayed here three days. The Magnolias in their brilliant yel- low and black with trimmings of purest white made a beautiful sight against the background of the evergreen branches, A Black-poll also searched its branches. On the ground among the dandelions that had gone to seed, I saw a Mourn- ing and a Canada Warbler. There must have been mosquitoes, gnats, and other insects which they found among the seeds of the dandelions. A Mourning Warbler with a beauti- ful bluish-slate cowl set off by a black scarf on his breast, hopped up on an old iron pail which the boys use when they hunt night-crawlers. Many times he took a peek into the pail, jumped down to the bottom, stayed there a second, then was back up on the rim of the pail, then down to the dandelions. The Redstdarts seemed to enjoy peeping into the pail, too. A Canada Warbler with an attractive necklace of black pendants on his yellow breast, spent much time among the dandelion seeds and also on the branches of the box elder. Yellow Warblers were also among the host of brightly colored birds. They were so very yellow compared to the others that it was not hard to pick them out. I had one good view of a Bay- breasted in the plum thicket. About three o’clock in the after- noon, I was standing with the back screen-door open, watching the warb- lers in the very, very cold rain that was coming down, when a female Red- start hopped into the house. I gently closed the screen door. At first she hopped on my feet, back and forth, from right to left. Finally, she hopped up on the ledge of the screen-door. I never moved my hand as I didn’t want to frighten her. Just then the tele- phone rang and I opened the door and gave her freedom. It was another lady on the phone asking me to identify warblers from her descriptions. They had been calling all day, I had given magnolia WARBLER 42 IOWA BIRD LIFE— XV, 1945 a bird talk in this town on May 16 and had told them they could expect to see warblers if they were observant. I had no idea my words would be literally fulfilled, for warblers had taken over the town. On May 23, two days later, I felt I had seen everything when a male Blackburnian appeared in the spruce tree. As he flashed in the sunlight, his brilliantly beautiful, vivid orange-red throat contrasted so effectively with the dark evergreens that he looked as though he would set the tree aflame. He was seen all morning in this spruce tree. There should not be an insect, in- sect egg, or larva left in the box elder and spruce trees, after the search- ing they have had, first by the Wood- peckers, Brown Creepers, Nuthatches, and Chickadees last winter, later by both species of the Kinglets in April, and finally by the warblers in May. Other warblers I have observed in Wright County are: Oven-bird, Palm, Black and White, Myrtle, Chesnut- sided, GrinnelTs and Louisiana Water Thrushes. In 1944 I saw three others; Parula, Golden-winged and Connecticut. I both saw and heard the Connecticut sing at the Clarion Cemetery. TIIE THIRD ANNUAL IOWA SPRING BIRD CENSUS Compiled by MYRLE and MARGARET JONES The third annual Iowa spring bird census was taken at 14 stations on May 11, 12, and 13, 1945. The results are given in Table I. Thirty parties consisting of 97 observers traveled collectively 473 miles by auto and 326 miles on foot, finding 181 species of birds, the individual birds numbering 19,643. Comparing this with the first and second annual spring bird counts there were 32 parties, 136 observers, listing 198 species and 24,514 individuals in 1943 (auto travel 510, foot 151); while in 1944 25 parties, 95 observers, saw 176 species and 14,912 individuals (auto travel 265, foot 163). As in 1943, 16 species were reported by all stations, of these seven were reported from all stations in the two previous lists. These seven most common birds are: Flicker, Red-headed Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Crow, Chickadee, House Wren, Brown Thrasher. Nine other species reported at all stations in two out of three years are: Mourning Dove, Robin, Bluebird, English Sparrow, Cowbird, Rose- breasted Grosbeak, Goldfinch, Red-winged Blackbird, Bronzed Grackle. The number of species per observer hour in 1943 was .255; in 1944 it was .274; while the 1945 ratio was .202 species per observer hour. In other words, the more observers the smaller the number of species seen per hour per observer. The number of individual birds seen for each observer hour in 1943 was 31,6; in 1944, 23.2; and in 1945, 22.2. There seems to be no correlation in this comparison which may be due to the variable weather factor. The immediate weather conditions for any particular day seemed to have little bearing upon the numbers of birds seen, while the weather difference in different sections of the state on a given day appears to be just about as variable as comparisons between days, IOWA SPRING BIRD CENSUS 43 No doubt the retarded season preceding the census days has more influence upon the bird activity during the census than has the im- mediate weather. A description of the stations and the names of the observers follow. 1. AMES. Story Co. City yards and streets, oak-hickory Pammel Woods of Iowa State College, adjacent wooded pastures and open fields in forenoon; Goose and Little Wall lakes, Hamilton County, and road- sides on way to lakes in afternoon. May 13; 6:30 to 11:30 a. in., 2 to 7 p.m. Clear in forenoon, cloudy with intermittent light showers and ending with steady rain in afternoon; coolest early and late in day. Mr. and Mrs. George 0. Hendrickson, John D. Lattin. 2. ATLANTIC. Cass Co. Fields, woods and wooded cemeteries 2 miles east and 5 miles east of town and a wooded park west of town. May 13; 6:30 to 11 a.m., 12 to 6 p.m. Cloudy ; rains several times dur- ing day. ‘Wind velocity, 10 m.p.h. Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Emigh, Mrs, Nellie McKellar, Mrs. Catharine Favquahr, Alma Beckwith, Grace Barnard, Norman Hansen, Don Bice (Atlantic Bird Club). 3. CEDAR FALLS. Blackhawk Co. Vicinity of Goose Lake, Wash- ington Union Bridge, along the Shellrock river northwest of Cedar Falls. May 11, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cloudy, southeast wind, 25 m.p.h. Mrs. Russell Rugg, Mrs. Lola Deal, Mrs. Francis Crouter, Mrs. Oren Paine. 4. CEDAR RAPIDS. Linn Co. Cedar Lake, Mound Farm Woods, Ellis Park area. Chain Lakes, Prairie Creek Woods and south along Cedar River, May 13; 7:20 a.m. to 5:20 p.m. Partly cloudy, no wind to gentle wind. Esther Copp, Lavina Dragoo, Marjorie Brunner, Dorothy Hayek, Isabelle Hoyman, Dr. W. N. Keck, Margaret Lahr, Earnest Steffen, Iola Tillapaugh, Myra Willis, Lillian Serbousek, Bill Tate, Mrs. R, Tate, 5. CLARION, Wright Co. Twin Lakes in Hancock Co. and road- side birds observed between Clarion and Twin Lakes. May 12; 12 noon to 6 p.m. Partly cloudy, a light sprinkle. Mr. and Mrs, W. C. DeLong. 6. DAVENPORT. Scott Co. Credit Island, Harbor Road, Fairmont Cemetery, Rowes Creek, Stubbs Woods, McManus Woods, Blackhawk Creek, along Wuverly Road, C. Cemetery, Fairgrounds, Cedar Street Creek Woods, Fejeruary Woods and Park, Cedar Creek Woods and S chicks Woods. May 1 1'; 5 to 11 a.m,, 1 to 8 p.m. Partly cloudy with rising temperature. James Hodges. 7. DES MOINES. Polk Co. Dove Woods, Brenton Slough, Walnut Woods State Park, Ashworth Park, Charles Sing Denman Woods and sanctuary. May 12; 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Partly cloudy, light wind. Mrs. Grace Christy, Mrs. Toni Wendelburg, Irene Smith, Floy Vest, Estella Reynolds, Albert Berkowitz, Joe Brown, Larry Loden, Woodward Brown, Leta Reynolds, Mrs. Harold R. Peasley. 8. DUBUQUE. Dubuque Co. Wooded section at Durango, Miss. River section at Zollicoffer’s, marshes (partly covered before rain). May 13- Fair in the morning, becoming increasingly cloudy with rain by 4:30 p.m. Mr. and Mrs. Bob Ruegnitz, Mr. and Mrs, George Cross- ley. A. E. Heuser, Henry Herrmann, James Dockal, Freida Blaufuss, Ival Schuster, Mary Young. 9. LEDGES STATE PARK. Boone Co. Oak-hickory woods and roadsides. May 13; 6:30 to 7:30 a.m., 9 to 11 a.m,, 1:30 to 3 p.m. Cloudy and threatening with rain after 3 p.m, Mrs. M. L. Jones and Barbara Jones. 10. MOUNT VERNON. Linn Co. Palisades State Park and high- ways near Mount Vernon. May 13; 6 to 10:30 a.m. s 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sun shining, no wind. Mrs. G. H. Scobey, Mrs. Earl Wright, Gene Devereaux, Chester Williams, J, W. Strickland, Jr., Dr. Frank G. Brooks, Dr. Charles R. Keyes, Dr. J. Harold Ennis. These served as leaders for about 75 Cornell College students. 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Ayres, Jr., Mr. and Mrs, Lawrence (Jim) Voss, Sandra Voss, Pearle C. Walker, Mary Evelyn Wood, Geraldine Stewart, Norman Crow, Bill Hoskins, Marietta Eighme, Walter W. Aitken, 12. SIOUX CITY, Woodbury Co. Open woodland, virgin timbered hills, open hill country, virgin prairie land, river and lake country, city parks, residential sections, and woods with underbrush not cleared, all in Sioux City area, cemeteries also covered. May 13; 9 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. Partially overcast in a.m. Completely overcast in p.m, W, J. Armour, Mrs. Marie Dales, Merlin Davies, Esther Freiert, Mrs, H. T. Lambert, Zell C. Lee, George H. Poulterer, Mary K. Poulterer, Dr. J. L. Schott, Mrs. J. L, Schott, Mona Redmond, Mrs. R. F. Remer, Elsie Williges, Mrs. H. G. Williges, Gertrude Weaver, Bertha Wellhausen, Carl Wellhausen, Mayme Yahr. 13. WAUBONSIE STATE PARK. Fremont Co. Wooded loess bluff hills of Waubonsie State Park, Riverton area (Nishnabotna marshes), Missouri bottomlands, Forney Slough with considerable roadside ob- servation. May 13; 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m,, 2 to 6:30 p.m. Cold in morn- ing, mostly clear in forenoon; severe thunder storms and showers early and late afternoon. Slight warbler activity between 3 and 5 p.m,; other- wise little or none. Earl Peterson (local conservation officer), Lynn Johnson (of Waubonsie State Park), Myrle L. Jones. 14. WTWTHROP. Buchanan Co. Monti woods, and woods along Wapsipinicon River upstream from Quasqueton; both towns in southern Buchanan Co. Also birds seen along roadside. May 13; 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Clear in a.m., cloudy in p.m. No waterbird habitat visited. Too cool preceding week; warbler migration not yet at its height. Fred J. Pierce. GENERAL NOTES Egret Colony at Sabula Abandoned.— The American Egret colony on the Mississippi bottoms near Sabula, established by these large white birds in 1942, has been abandoned. The peak number of live nests was in 1943, when more than 250 were found (see Towa Bird Life, Decem- ber, 1943, pp. 58-62), In 1944 the colony had decreased to a small number of American Egrets and several hundred Great Blue Herons, Conservation officers in visiting the nesting site recently (June, 1945) found large numbers of Great Blue Herons, but the egrets were absent. — JAMES R. HARLAN, Iowa State Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. Blue Geese Try Mississippi Flyway for First Time. For the first time in the spring, a flock of approximately 3,000 Blue and Snow Geese are migrating north up the Mississippi River and are now resting in the Green Bay bottoms. Single Blue Geese have been noted on the Mississippi rarely in the spring in the past, but since historic times the spring flight of this goose has been north up the Missouri River, with some major flocks spilling inland to the northwest Iowa lakes. There are now approximately 500,000 geese on the Missouri River bottoms, with considerable numbers inland throughout the northwest part of Iowa. Ornithologists have been anticipating a change in the spring con- centrations because of an irregularity in the fall flight pattern recently. Bird students attribute this flight change to the advent of the mechani- cal cornpieker, which shatters and leaves lying on the ground thousands of bushels of readily available waste corn. — JAMES R. HARLAN, Iowa State Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa, March 22, 1945. LOCAL BIRD CLUBS IN IOWA 49 Cowbird Eggs in Red-wing’s Nests. — The roadside along our farm is filled with willow saplings and cat-tails. I have found many nests of the Red-winged Blackbird in this growth, several of which are woven into the close-grown cat-tail stalks. Cowbirds are numerous in this area, and I have frequently found their eggs in the Red-wings’ nests. During June I visited the tract each day and destroyed the Cowbird eggs which had been laid in the Red-wings’ nests.— MRS. ROBERT PARSONS, Dickens, Iowa. Publications on Iowa Ornithology during 1944. ‘Audubon Magazine’. Christmas bird censuses from Iowa; 46 (1), 1944: supplement 46-48. Harlan, James R. American Egrets Build Nests and Rear Young in Rookery near Sabula; Iowa Conserv,, 3 (1), 1944; 1-3 (reprint from Iowa Bird Life). Annual Flight of Blue and Snow Geese Through Iowa on Now; ibid., 3 (3), 1944: 17, 22. Hasbrouek, Dr. Edwin M. The Status of Barrow’s Golden-eye in the Eastern United States; Auk, 61 (4), 1944: 544-554 (Iowa records on p. 554). Hendrickson, Geo. 0. The Bob-white Quail in Iowa; Iowa Conserv., 3 (9), 1944: 70-72. Iowa Pheasant Production in 1943; ibid., 3 (11), 1944: 81, 85. Hendrickson, Geo. O., and Earl R. Peterson. Upland Game Bird Survey Reveals Interesting Facts; Iowa Conserv,, 3 (8), 1944; 57, 62, 64. ‘Iowa Bird Life’. 41 articles referring to Iowa birds in Vol. 14. Jones, Myrle L. Peeping Tom and Vain Vera, Bluebirds of Waubon- sie; Iowa Conserv., 3 (6), 1944; 41, 44. McClure, H. Elliott. The Elfect of Tree Removal on a Mourning Dove Population; Auk, 61 (4), 1944: 560-563. Musgrove, Jack. The Starling Has Completed Invasion of the United States; Iowa Conserv,, 3 (8), 1944: 57, 61. Thompson, Fred 0. Old-time Market Hunters Relate Stories of Early Iowa Duck Shooting; Iowa Conserv., 3 (11), 1944; 81-82, 86-88. — F. J. P. LOCAL BIRD CLUBS IN IOWA OTTUMWA. — The Ottumwa Bird Club has held a long series of very successful monthly meetings during 1944 and 1945. We review^ briefly those held in 1944. In January J. Wilbur Dole, of Fairfield, talked on the subject of “Swallows and Flycatchers”. In February three reels of motion pictures — “Wild Wings’’ and “Birds of the Spring Woods” in natural color, and “Know the Hawks”- — were shown, with comments by the Club’s president, Charles C. Ayres, Jr. The April meeting featured a colored motion picture and lecture, “Wonders of the South- ern Wilderness”, by Alexander Sprunt, Jr., author and nationally known lecturer. Although sponsored by the Club, the public was invited, and 375 persons attended. The May and June meetings were devoted to articles, sketches and comments on local bird life as observed by the members. At the July meeting attention was turned to the humming- birds, and in August an outdoor meeting was held at the John Wood home; Miss Mary Wood presented the subject “Bird Songs” and used phonograph records of actual bird songs to supplement her talk. The September meeting was given over to the subject of bird-banding, in October Mr. Ayres spoke on the birds of Colorado, while Chimney Swifts formed the subject for the November meeting, and the owls in December. At the latter meeting the club members spent much time ob- serving the star guest, “Billy the Snapper”, a Great Horned Owl which was captured when he crashed through a window in the courthouse tower. In 1945 we began with the January meeting, which was an “Indoor Hike”. Study skins of 48 species of birds which were loaned to us by 50 IOWA BIRD LIFE — -XV, 1945 Jack Musgrove, museum director of the Iowa Dept of History and Archives, were examined and studied by the club members. This meet- ing was especially enjoyed by those members who are not able to go on the hikes. At the February, 1945, meeting a series of articles were presented by club members. Miss Geraldine Stewart told the story of Raffles, an Asiatic Starling, which has been quite popular on radio programs and entertaining veterans of the war; Miss Mary Wood spoke on the Flam- ingo colony of Florida; Miss Marietta Eighme read an article about specimens collected by service men; Miss Maude Norris read excerpts from letters of members of the Iowa Ornithologists' Union in the armed forces; Charles C. Ayrss, Jr., briefly discussed the Sora Rail. Officers elected for 1945 were; Pres., Charles C. Ayres, Jr., Viee-Pres., Law- rence (Jim) Voss; Secy.-Treas,, Pearle C. Walker. "Wildlife from Prairie to Mountain Top” was the subject discussed by Charles C. Ayres, Jr. at the March meeting. This talk was illustrated by colored slides of birds, flowers, animals and scenic views taken in Colorado. At the April meeting the "Identification of Spring Birds” was the feature, and large drawings of birds to he seen around Ot- tumwa at that time of year were shown. The Iowa Ornithologists’ Union meeting was held in the city on May 5-6, and no separate club meeting was held. — CHARLES C. AYRES' JR. RECENT BIRD BOOKS THE CANVASBACK ON A PRAIRIE MARSH, by H. Albert Hoeh- baum (The American Wildlife Institute, Washington, D. C., 1944; cloth, pp. i-xii + 1-201, with 1 colored pi., 18 photo pis., 30 ink sketches; price, $3). The author, who is also the artist, has a great love for marshes. He gathered his material in the "land of marshes,” particularly at the Delta Marsh "hugging” the southern end of Lake Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada. At that marsh, according to the Epilogue, "deep within its screen of tules there still exists a solitude as wild and clean and fresh as the peak of an unsealed mountain.” Each chapter starts with a paragraph that sets the scene in the marsh. These introductony para- graphs enable the reader to visualize more clearly in an entertaining way the scientific contents of the remainder of the chapter. The photographic plates are excellent reproductions of nests with eggs, ducks, and detailed and broad phases of the environment. The ink drawings are a terse pictorial summary of Canvasback activities. Several graphic tables condense activities of various periods of the summer. The chapter headings; the Delta Marsh, spring flight, court- ship, the nesting season, nesting of other species, the brood season, the postbreeding season, autumn and the shooting season, and a discussion for management indicate the contents. Nine other ducks are compared with the Canvasback, which receives major attention. Although the author acknowledges considerable assistance, it is very evident that he made the major contribution through the very clearly stated findings and personal views. Rather than settling all questions of management, he raises many in a very thoughtful manner. These questions will be very helpful to the many who will continue in research with waterfowl ecology and management. The reviews of previous literature are accui'ately done and the criti- cisms are constructive. The text is not hindered for the lay reader by the use of scientific names of animals and plants. Rather the scientific names appear with common and local names in the appendix. With a few exceptions the common and local names are used also in the States, The box elder (Acer negundo) is locally known as a maple, which it truly is, and has the common name of Manitoba maple. The book ends with a delightful Epilogue that leaves us with the local people at the marsh through the winter and into the spring, when Georgie at opening ex- MEMBERSHIP NEWS 51 ercises in school announces, “I seen four Mallards this morning.” And with the children we rush into the schoolyard to see the first geese of the spring.— George 0. Hendrickson, W W W * * THE GOLDFINCH, OFFICIAL IOWA BIRD, by Mabel Goshorn Tate and Josephine Baumgartner (Des Moines Audubon Society, Des Moines, 1945; wrappers, pp. 1-13, with 1 col. pi.; price, 50c). The Goldfinch has perhaps a little more distinction than a number of other common birds, for it has been chosen as Official State Bird by several states including Iowa. For the purpose of giving recognition to the Goldfinch, the Des Moines Audubon Society brings out an attrac- tive brochure, which is devoted entirely to this bird. There are sections on the song, food, nesting habits and care of the young, and a discus- sion of the Goldfinch's abundance in Iowa. Under ‘Vignettes” we find vivid word pictures of this bird as part of the Iowa landscape in the four seasons of the year. At its Des Moines convention in 1932 the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union named the Goldfinch as its choice for the State Bird of Iowa. The following March Representative J. Wilbur Dole, one of our members, introduced a House Resolution designating the Goldfinch as State Bird. The Resolution was formally adopted by the House and Senate. Thus one of the acts of our Union has gone into history. The Goldfinch booklet includes the legislative record in detail, which no doubt is worth preserving in our Iowa literature. Careful thought has gone into this booklet, and we congratulate the Des Moines Audubon Society on its publication. — F. J. P. MEMBERSHIP NEWS Our printer usually sets up more copy than we have room for and it is inevitable that some items have to be left out. After having been crowded out of the last two issues, we believe that the below item still has news value: On the evening of February 5, our Vice-President, Charles C, Ayres, Jr., was guest speaker at the Cedar Rapids Bird Club’s annual dinner. His talk was very interesting and thoroughly enjoyed. He described the bird life near Denver, Colorado, and showed kodachrome slides of the rugged scenery of that region as well as some of the birds that he found. Editor Pierce has had a busy summer on the farm, with frequent visits from our members to add pleasure to the daily routine. One morning while pulling weeds in the towering verdure of an August cornfield, the Editor came upon— not a plant specimen but Dr. Martin Grant! At various times there were visits from other members: Dr. Harold Ennis, Lillian Serbousek, Oscar Allert, Rev, Melvin Meleher, Arthur Palas, Robert Pierce, Iola Tillapaugh, Margaret Murley, and David L. Savage. Robert A. Pierce, who served with a medical detachment of the Army during the last four years, was recently discharged and returned Eo his home at Nashua, Iowa. Finishing military training in Louisiana, he crossed the ocean to the British Isles, was later sent to Africa. He took an active part in the campaigns in Africa and Sicily, and was with the Army as it made its way up through Italy, He had several days’ leave in Rome and saw many places of historical interest there. The return trip to United States was by transport plane, leaving the African continent at Dakar and crossing the Atlantic to Brasil, then northward over the Amazon River, British Guiana, and other points to Miami, Florida. Mr. Pierce has enrolled in the graduate college at Ames and will work for a degree in Wildlife Management. Dr. Rudolph M. Anderson, author of the 'Birds of Iowa’ (1907), now Chief of the Division of Biology of the National Museum of 52 IOWA BIRD LIFE— XV, 1945 Canada, of Ottawa, wrote an interesting letter to Miss Serbousek when sending- his dues. The letter was dated March 15, 1945, and he said, in part: “I have been working overtime completing a bulky manuscript of a Catalogue of Canadian Recent Mammals. The work is intended as a Museum Bulletin and may be published soon, as there has never been an even nominally complete list of Canadian mammals published. The nomenclature is brought up to date and the more important synonyms are given. With a collection of over 18,000 mammals here, nearly all Canadian specimens, and after examining most of the Canadian material in the larger U. S. museums, I have been able to add something to the distributional range of most of the Canadian forms. “I have not been able to do very much with birds lately, although I always keep an eye and ear open for them and read much of the cur- rent literature. Our bird collection in the National Museum now num- bers over 30,000 specimens, including mounted specimens of the most important species. I hope sometime to get back to work on the birds, and at least finish a work on western Arctic birds for which I have been gathering data and writing notes for a good many years. “The appropriations for museum field work were cut off on account of war conditions early in 1940, but we were able to send one man up the Alaska Highway in 1943, and he collected about 500 birds and over 400 mammals. The following year we sent one zoologist and one botanist with two field assistants for several months along the Canol Road from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to Norman Wells on the Mackenzie. This proved to be a naturalist's heaven, a country that had never been explored biologically, and although much of the fauna and flora was what was expected, some new forms were found and every specimen of animal or plant was a ‘locality record'. " MUSGROVE GOES ON CANADIAN EXPEDITION.— Jack W. Mus- grove, Museum Director for the Iowa State Dept, of History and Ar- chives, left Des Moines on June 23 for Winnipeg, Canada. From Win- nipeg he went by boat to Norway House, an old Hudson Bay Company trading post at the north end of Lake Winnipeg. At Norway House (about June 29) a party of 12 started for Hudson Bay in canoes, a round trip of 1800 miles which occupied the next five or six weeks. Musgrove was naturalist for the expedition, Ben Ferrier, a former Des Moines school teacher, was leader, Wilbur T. Bull was geologist, and Jim Begg, an Indian, was guide. The other eight persons were boys of high school age who made the trip for the experience and for what they could learn. In mid-July the expedition was at God's Lake in Manitoba, and from there it went down God's River and on to York Factory, a Hudson Bay Company post. At that point on the bay large numbers of shore birds nest. They went by bay to the mouth of the Nelson River, then up that stream to the point where the railway touches it. A once-a- week train runs to Churchill, still farther north on the bay. The ex- pedition's equipment was placed on this train and carried to Thicket Portage, from which place the party returned to Norway House by canoe. Musgrove returned to Des Moines August 20. Musgrove's objectives on the expedition were chiefly to get good color photographs for use in the museum, and a limited number of specimens. The route covered four life zones, in which are located the breeding grounds of many birds that migrate through the Mississippi Valley. Part of the country visited was unmapped and almost unknown. Though only a small expedition, it explored, mapped, and made a E-eneral survey of the wildlife and geology within the limits of its time. Without minimizing the labor involved or overlooking the accomplish- ments from a scientific angle, we believe it must have been a wonderful vacation trip for all those who participated. No doubt the region offers great possibilities for future exploration and study.