74 



THE OOLOGIST. 



such a dull splash as to be scarcely 

 audible. Ah ! at last. How we fairly 

 skim over the water in our eagerness 

 to reach the spot, and carefully parting 

 the rushes what is our joy to find eight 

 dull, bluish eggs snugly lying in a 

 nest of softest down. A photograph is 

 first secured and then the prize. We 

 already feel rewarded for our exertions, 

 but are still pleased to continue until 

 six beautiful sets are securely packed 

 in the boxes, just one set for each, and 

 the rest are not disturbed. We now 

 turn toward a different shore, where 

 hundreds of blackbirds keep up an 

 incessent screaming. It is an easy 

 matter to secure all the eggs desired, 

 nests being found in nearly available 

 spot. The heat warns us that it is 

 noon, and landing, we are glad to rest 

 an hour, after which we slowly proceed 

 toward the camp. For the purpose of 

 making as many new finds as possible 

 we divide into two parties, each pursu- 

 ing a different route. We were nearing 

 the same clump of willows passed in 

 the morning, when we decided to search 

 again. This time we were more suc- 

 cessful. After a short search the nest 

 was found. In a small depression lay 

 four large ashy-gray eggs, thickly 

 spotted with purple and brown. We 

 could easily see that the nest had not 

 been occupied during the day, and 

 this showed that it was very likely the 

 one belonging to the bird shot in the 

 morning. Perhaps not. Any way 

 they are the rarest set found yet. The 

 sun warns us of the coming dusk, and 

 we must proceed rapidly as we are still 

 far from camp. A few sets of Cardinal 

 and Chat eggs are all we find, and we 

 reach camp to find our friends already 

 awaiting us. L. E. Miller. 



[The set of Wood-cock was undoubt- 

 edly a second set owing to some acci- 

 dent to the first eggs or young. The 

 Wood-cock lays her eggs early in April 

 and if the lirst attempt results in her 

 raising a brood I do not think that 

 they nest again that season. I found 



a half incubated set on May 20th, 

 1897, but an investigation soon located 

 the party who took the first set from the 

 same pair four weeks earlier. — Ed.] 



Nesting of the Black Tern. 



CHARLES W. BOWMAX. 



The lake region of North Dakota 

 offers special inducements to this tern, 

 which is here found in great abund- 

 ance, both as migrant and breeder. 

 The first birds arrive from the south 

 about the first to the middle of April. 

 A few solitary individuals are usually 

 seen a few days before the bulk of the 

 species are with us. They make no 

 noise upon their first arrival, but soon 

 become noisy enough to suit the most 

 fastidious, seeming to incessantly 

 utter their harsh notes which soon 

 grate upon the ear. 



About two weeks after their first 

 arrival the nesting site is chosen, and 

 nest building is begun. This site 

 usually consists of a grassy slough or 

 marsh of any size fromoneto one hun- 

 dred acres in extent. The Terns seena 

 to like best those sloughs in which 

 patches of grass and open water are 

 interspersed, carefully avoiding those 

 bodies of water which are heavily over- 

 grown with rushes. The chosen situa- 

 tion is usually occupied by from one 

 dozen to fifty pairs of birds, and they 

 invariably return to nest year after 

 year in the same spot unless molested, 

 providing the surroundings remain 

 the same. 



The nests are usually on small 

 patches of open water, which is closely 

 surrounded by a growth of grass, which 

 may vary in depth from a few inches to 

 several feet. They are some times 

 frail structures consisting of but a 

 handful of grass, which rests upon the 

 surface of the water, but they are often 

 more substantial affairs being placed 

 upon a pile of drift or an old muskrat 

 house. By the time that incubation is 

 completed they are generally much de- 



