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9 BULLETIN OF THE *(?OOPlgli 'ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUiJ. individual plants are from 3 to Io0 feet or more apart, often with sand wind- heaped about their bases. Second.' the flora of the alluvial fiver-bottom, which may again be divided into the area annually overflowed by the river and that ly- !ng a few feet higher and adjoining the desert mesa. The flora changes.immedi- 'ately on entering the river bottom which is separated from the mesa by irregular bluffs 5 to too feet high. Tessaria abounds with occasional clumps of [?accharis, Chenofiodiu m, ?ltriplex, a scattering growth of two mesquites, Prosopisjuh)qora anti ?. fiubescens.. Nearer the river and the many lagoons, which mark old river beds, are cottonwood, Populusfremontii, willow, Salix , with an undergrowth of tule, cane and occasional dense thickets of "wild hemp." Along the ditches and some of the overflowed land 2Vicotania ?lauca, .anthium canadense and ?Imaran- thus -- grow in profusion. Third: on the lower river below the limit of lull- low, cottonwood and "hemp" and along the GuIf are wide meadows of a sea grass, (fniolapalmeri, and scattering bunches of another Chen?odium, and a Spiros- tachys, both Iarge bushes from three to eight feet high. My route lay from Yuma south by team into Sonora about fifty miles south of the line, thence by boat fifty miles to the mouth of the river and south on the Gulf about forty miles to a point on the Californian shore; thence back to Yuma by land, usually near the river bank. i ,4echmophorus occidentalis.' WESTERN GREBE. A large grebe which I took to be of this species was often seen about our boat at the mouth of the Colorado. 2 Podilymbuspodiceps. PIED-BILLED GREBE. Several specimens seen in a slough about six miles south of Yuma. 3 (fria sp ? GUILLEMOT. Abundant off Montague Island at the head of the Gulf. 4 Larus occideniahk. WESTE}?N GULL. Abundant along the Gulf shore, and noted at many points along the river to within forty miles of Yuma. 5 arus delawarensis. ?. RING-BILLED GULL. Two small gutIs were ob- served wheeling over a freshly plowed field near Yuma Nov. 29. They some- times dropped for a moment to the ground as if picking up insects or worms. 6 Xlerna -?sp? A large tern ?vas noted on the GuIf. 7 Slerna --sp? A tern about the size of S. fosleri was seen following the tides back and forth ox? the lower river and opposite Montague Island. 8 ]?halacrocoraxpenicillatus. ? BRANDT'S COR?tORANT. A large cormorant was observed along the lower river but no specimens were taken. 9 ?elecanus erythrorhynchos. A?. WHITE PELICAN. Extremely abundant along the lower river and Gulf. On the loth of December hundreds of flocks were ob- served flying in a southerly direction over a point 50 miles north of the Gulf. At times several flocks would unite into one immense gathering and fairly darken the sky with their evolutions. This bird was noted on all the bars along the river and often would be seen fishing. io ?tnas boschas. MALLARD. Common; several shot. ix ,4haspenelope. WIDGEON. A small flock seen on a lagoon south of Yuma Nov. 27?. i2 ,'tnas carolinensis. GREEN-WINGED TEAL. Common. f3 Xpaltt[a clypeata. SIloYELLER. Common at many points along the river. 14 ,4.yth. ya ajjinis. I, ESSER SqAuP DUCK. One was shot on the lower river. 15 ,4.yth. ya collaris. ? RING-NEC}CED DUCK. Large flocks of a duck I supposed to be of this?Sp?cies were 'seen at the head of the Gulf. '? ' i6 CharitOnetla albeola. BUFFLE-HE/?D. Several s?een ? on the lower river. ?7"'Oidemia ---sp ? Sco?'ER. Noted in Gulf below Montague'island.' I80t'demit? deocslttndi. 'WHITE-wINGED SCoTER. Noted near the Californian shore twenty miles below Montague Island.' 19 t?ranta--g?57' BRANT. A brant, probably B. berizicla, was abundant everywhere along the river' south of the line. Great numbers -were seen on a' salt pond, called Laguna, Salada, about forfy' miles south of the line. They 'were especially abundant on the various mud flats near the "Hardy" slough.