320 BIRD-LIFE IN WESTERN CANADA 



birds were sufficiently common to make their notes a not in- 

 conspicuous part of the chorus of bird voices. I spent much 

 time in futile search of a Grackle 's nest which the actions of 

 the birds indicated was in the grove at our camp ; eventually 

 it was discovered on the ground, among the poplar sprouts, 

 within sixty feet of the tent. With the aid of an umbrella 

 blind, it was possible to observe, at close range, these birds 

 feeding their family of four. The returning parent was in- 

 variably greeted by four mouths spread wide in mute ap- 

 peal for food, and apparently the nearest bird was fed first. 

 But by that nice adjustment of the nervous system which, 

 as Professor Herrick has shown, prevents a young bird 

 from receiving an undue share of food, there was no 

 " swallowing response " from the mouth of the well-fed 

 youngster and the parent acting on this hint, removed the 

 food, and tried another applicant. 



The sharp peek of passing Black Terns was a frequent 

 note. The feeding habits of these birds and of Franklin's 

 Gulls is a strange sight to the eastern bird student, whom 

 experience has taught to associate members of this family 

 with bays and sandy beaches. 



From our tent door in the early morning I sometimes 

 found the surrounding prairie thickly dotted with Frank- 

 lin's Gulls actively hunting grasshoppers, the birds at the 

 rear constantly arising to take the lead, only to lose it to 

 those that followed. It is a novel sight also, to see these 

 beautiful birds following the plough to secure the grubs ex- 

 posed in the lengthening furrow, with their white and pearl 

 plumage gleaming against the fresh black prairie soil. The 

 Black Terns, which often take part in the hunt, appear to 

 feed exclusively on insects, and it is only when the high 

 winds set the prairie grasses rolling in long billows and 

 the Terns gliding low, gather insects from the grassy crests, 

 that one is reminded of their relationship to birds of the sea. 



From the sloughs came the whinny of Soras and boom- 

 ing of Bitterns, and from the great quill reed jungles such a 



