ORNITHOLOGIST 



— AND — 



OOLOGIST. 



Some Prairie Birds. 



Years ago, when northwestern Iowa was 

 a vast prairie, out into which few settlers 

 had ventured and the monotony was seldom 

 broken save by some wood-fringed lake or 

 a herder's shanty, I drove to that region 

 about Spirit Lake, Iowa, which is now so 

 well know'n as a summer resort. My way lay 

 along the Iowa River, from the head waters 

 of which stream, westward, was the great, 

 fiat prairie, interspersed with marshes and 

 small lakes, about which swarmed countless 

 numbers of shore birds. Here were troops 

 of White Cranes, some far a-marsh, guard- 

 ing their nests, Brown Cranes, Canada Geese, 

 fighting each other and whipping the water 

 into foam ; Long-billed Curlews ; Godwits ; 

 Red-bellied Snipes ; Golden Plover ; Up- 

 land Plover ; American Bitterns ; Ducks of 

 many kinds : Mallard ; Pin-tails ; Red-heads ; 

 Spoon-bill, Blue-winged Teal and occasion- 

 ally a flock of White Pelicans settled on the 

 shores and waters of a lonely lake ; their 

 great white forms glistening brighter than 

 the waters on which they floated. Swans 

 were frequently seen ; and Night Herons 

 could be observed moiling among the bogs. 



The larger number of these species re- 

 mained during the summer and the natural- 

 ist had a wide and interesting field for re- 

 search. One memorable afternoon in early 

 May I left the tent in kindly shelter of the 

 fringe of woods on Crystal Lake, Winnebago 

 Co., Iowa, the lakelet in whose sparkling 

 waters classic Iowa River finds birth. Fol- 

 lowing the stream as it wound about-through 



flat meadows or by low, gravelly hills, I 

 reached the immense marsh lying north 

 from Eagle Lake. Here were secured a 

 number of the large, drab-and-spotted eggs 

 of the White Crane. They had chosen the 

 ' centre of the marsh for a nesting-place, and 

 there, a mile from the higher shores, the 

 j mother birds could be seen upon the nests, 

 j which were formed of soft grass gathered 

 together in a firm heap about one and one 

 half feet high, and placed on firm sod, out 

 j of water, but very near it. In the top of 

 this heap was a very slight depression for 

 the eggs. LIpon these nests the birds sit in 

 the same posture that a goose assumes, the 

 legs protru<ling behind. They often let the 

 head and neck lie down along the side of 

 the nest in a wearied way, which is usual for 

 the Canada Goose, especially if the hunter 

 is near. LIpon my approaching the marsh 

 these birds mo\ed away with stately tread, 

 walking much faster than I cared to do, yet 

 apparently taking it easy. The White Crane 

 is certainly a strikingly handsome bird in 

 its wild retreats. One does not tire of 

 watching their peculiar movements. When 

 walking at a distance they appear almost as 

 tall as a man. They are far more alert and 

 much wilder than the Brown Cranes. 



Several sets of Brown Crane's eggs were 

 taken. Their nests being uniformly in the 

 water, formed by tramping rush stalks down 

 until the pile reached the surface, these 

 nests often float about with the mother birds 

 upon them. 



So interested had I become that on look- 

 ing about only a vague, red glow lay close 



Copyright, 1893, by Fkank Blake Webster Companv. 



