?44 THE CONDOR I VoL V the lake only a few miles from the outlet of the lake into the Santiago; the two sections of what is really the same stream thus, after Spanish fashion, bearing distinct names. Our object in visiting this point was to learn as much as possible about the water-fowl which winter abundantly in the marshes bordering the east end of the lake and along the lower Lerma. By invitation of an American in charge of a plantation near Ocotlan we em- barked on Christmas day with our host and his wife in one of the large sail boats used for the commerce between the towns on the lake, for a trip to the mouth of the Lerma on a hunt for geese and ducks. The boat was large and apparently build on the model of a flat-iron with a thatched roof of rushes over the stern, and with such high sides that one could walk comfortably about on the flat bottom or climb up to the bow where a decked space covering the forward third of the boat gave a place where one could lie and watch the picturesque views furnished by the mountains which enclose the lake on nearly all sides. A large square sail caught the light breeze and drew us slowly away from shore and for some time I strained my eyes to but little purpose for signs of bird life. In the afternoon we reached the shore near the mouth of the Lerma and saw several species of herons and ducks about patches of rushes, and many cormorants were flying in pairs or in small parties drawn t,ut in line and at a distance not easily distinguishable from geese. The cormorants x? ere all headed toward a common point in the shallow part of the lake, beyond the mouth of the river, which our native boatmen assured us was their roosting place. The winter climate is delightful in this region and as Christmas night closed down we sat on the deck, while we drifted slowly along near the reedy shore, and watched the most brilliant display of stars come out as the rich afterglow faded away. In the intense blackness of the shoreline the cheerful twinkling of lights here and there marked the locations of villages and followed the tolling of the vesper bells that came to us, mellowed by distance, at twi- light. There were no signs of the expected geese but from time to time the voices of other waterfowl arose on the adjacent marsh, exciting pleasant anticipations for the coming day. With some reluctance we left the beauties of the night and sought our blankets. Just as we were drifting into forgetfulness a medley of clanging notes awoke us and we heard a flock of white-fronted geese (,4nsergam- beli) settle near us in a pond on shore. The next morning several flocks of geese left the ponds in the vicinity soon after daybreak and a large number of cormorants dispersed from the part of the lake where they had gathered the evening before. All day until the middle of the afternoon we poled about in the shallows at this end of the lake among patches of reeds and marsh grass with stretches of open water between and were very suc- cessful in securing numerous species of waterfowl. In the afternoon a long line of whitened bushes growing in the open water some distance away was pointed out by our host who said he had passed there a short time betbre and found a lot of cormorants nesting in them. I could scarcely credit this but the whitened appear- ance of the bushes showed that the birds used the place as a roost at least and I decided to investigate. As we poled near enough we saw that the bushes, or small trees which projected twelve or fifteen feet from the water were full of cor- morants and many could be seen standing on nests. We stopped the boat when within one hundred yards and after removing our clothing slid cautiously over- board into from three to four feet of water. Camera in hand Goldman and I stalked the birds to within about forty yards and secured a few exposures. The
