IN QUEST OF A NIGHT-ROOST 201 



Out on the open lake, something of still a new 

 type of bird life could be noted. Not only were 

 the flocks of Franklin's gulls much in evidence, 

 but several big, ring-billed relatives worked by 

 over the water — their first fall appearance, after 

 spending the summer at some of the larger and 

 more northerly lakes. One of these chaps gave 

 evidence of the sharpness of his eye by noting 

 me peering out from the shrubbery and coming 

 back to investigate. After circling overhead a 

 time or two and eyeing me eerily, he went on 

 about his business again. His dusky coat — the 

 mantle of the immature — explained this display 

 of indiscretion and inquisitiveness. 



As I watched him go off about his aimless 

 hunting, another autumn visitor came into view. 

 A big black cormorant, flying low over the water 

 like a huge duck, was winging rapidly up the 

 lake. He appeared to be keeping an appoint- 

 ment; or probably he was out scouting in quest 

 of a spot where he might get a square evening 

 meal of minnows, or better still, juicy sala- 

 manders. For on the prairie lakes in which no 

 large fish are found, this ungainly, repulsive lit- 

 tle creature is called upon to head the menu list 

 of many of the water birds. Half a mile out 



