SUMMER BIRDS OF FLATHEAD LAKE. 301 



Notes on New Birds. 



167. Ruddy Duck, Erismatura jamaicensis (Gmel.) 



This handsome little duck was met with in the summer of 1901, on 

 a small pot-nole on the Flathead reservation. The watery area was 

 about an acre in extent, margined by a thick growth of grass. As we 

 passed it somewhat hurriedly, we noticed several ducks on the water. 

 Loitering behind the others, I made a circuit of the pond, and at one 

 place I came upon a wounded duck crouching in the grass, almost under 

 my feet. Before I could capture it, the duck revived and swam out into 

 the deeper water. However, I could not fail to recognize the reddish- 

 chestnut of the back, and the black of the head, nor the little tail left 

 so jauntily erect. Indeed, I was stooping to pick up the duck when it 

 glided away from my reach. It is likely that several pairs of this duck 

 were nesting on the little pond where they were seen. 



206. Sandhill Crane, Gnus mexicana (Mull.) 



The sandhill crane was observed in both the seasons of 1901 and 

 1902. In the former summer, on July 29, a pair of these cranes was ob- 

 served standing on a stranded tree near the mouth of Flathead river. I 

 tried to secure a specimen with the shotgun, but the great birds paid no 

 attention to my No. 6 shot. These birds lingered near the mouth of the 

 river for several days, but they were too wary to be taken. In 1902, 

 when we were encamped at the head of Swan lake, July 26, a sandhill 

 crane flew overhead, circling somewhat uneasily about the place, and 

 finally alighted in the meadow, but was not thereafter observed. 



221. American Coot, Fulica americana Gmel. 



The American coot eluded our notice until the spring of 1902, when 

 it was observed in the swamp at the head of Swan Lake. On the morn- 

 ing of June 6, two individuals were seen feeding, and as they paid little 

 attention to our quiet movements in a skiff, we watched them for some 

 time with considerable interest. Hoping that they might be nesting in 

 the swamp, I refrained from taking a specimen at that time. However, 

 they were not seen again, and there was no evidence of their nesting 

 there. We were told by trappers in the neighborhood that the coots as- 

 sembled in the swamp in the fall in hundreds. 



225. American Avocet. Recurvirostra americana. 



The American avocet was not noted in the Flathead region until 1903. 

 when a single specimen was observed on August 11, at the mouth of 

 Flathead river. It was feeding on the sand-bar in company with several 

 Baird's sandpipers and some ring-billed gulls. An effort was made to 

 ^•3cure it, but it flew away with a broken leg and we were unable to 



