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147 



Young Cormorants 

 Salt Lake, Utah 



pair, small flocks, and long lines, and 

 wedges. There is the Canada Goose, 

 the Great Blue Heron, the Black- 

 Crowned Night Heron, the Mallard, 

 the Pintail and the Canvasback, the 

 Shoveller, the Baldpate, the Green- 

 wing Teal, and the Cinnamon Teal. 



The humid mist of the early morn- 

 ing is rising, so we take a duck boat 

 and course along the runways, wind- 

 ing in and out of the tules, gliding so 

 silently that we take a setting Canada 

 Goose unawares; and surprise a col- 

 ony of Black-crowned Night Heron. 

 For a moment or two the sun is dark- 

 ened by several large flocks of White- 

 faced Glossy Ibis passing over- 

 head, coming in from the open lake; 

 a frantic duck dashes madly through 

 the air closely pursued by a hungry 

 Duck Hawk; the air is filled with the 

 warning cries from a colony of Avo- 

 cets, as they circle closely above our 

 heads; and as we land upon a mud 



flat, the little Black-necked Stilts rise 

 from their nests, making their way to 

 the water's edge, where they flap their 

 wings, and scold and feign lameness, 

 for where the marsh grass fringes out 

 onto the mud flat, is a slight depres- 

 sion scratched in the ground, contain- 

 ing four greenish-buff eggs boldly 

 marked with brownish black. 



This paradise of the water bird af- 

 fords also a refuge for the beautiful 

 Snowy Heron and Egret, which the 

 ruthless plume hunter has so wantonly 

 slaughtered. During the last few 

 years they have increased in numbers, 

 doubtless because Utah offers them 

 the protection that until recently they 

 could not find elsewhere. The Long- 

 billed Curlew is another of the rare 

 shore birds that is bordering upon ex- 

 tinction, owing to the rapid advance 

 of civilization. Looking through our 

 field glasses we see an occasional lone 

 sentinel on duty, guarding his home 



