tup: oolo(;ist. 



23 



REV. P. B. PEABODY, Wilder, Minn. 



The time we made was quite satisfac- 

 tory. We drove across the marsh to a 

 point of elevated ground near the edge 

 of the Lake and rlose to Rock Island, 

 where a huge colony of Forster's Terns 

 [Sterna forsterii) had hundreds of their 

 nests and eggs lying around in (he 

 gravel and weeds, a great many of the 

 nests contained one, two, or three eggs 

 and a few had as many as four eggs. 



I collected about si.\ty frcsli eggs and 

 could have taken five hundred had I 

 wished so many. The eggs are very 

 handsome and show quite a variation, the 

 ground color v:ii\ iiig fmm white to a 

 dark olive, some are lilotched, tjthers 

 highly colored with brown, black and 

 violet sjjots. Mr. llaiue shot two rare 

 Sandpipers and took their nests and 

 eggs, but unfoitunately broke the four 

 fresh eggs and allowi'd t lit; skins to spoil 

 from lack of lime to skin tlie birds. 



On the edge of the marsh I found a 

 nest of the Caovas-back {Aytliya 

 vallisneria) eontainingseveneggs almost 



incubated. I left the eggs in the nest 

 and the next day the young ducks ap- 

 peared. The nest was a beautj' and 

 was built in the tall flags on the ground 

 and was entirely surrounded by water. 

 The bird flevv around in great distress- 

 while I was examining the nest and. 



eggs- 

 While we were driving across the- 

 marsh the horses almost stepped on a 

 Prairie Chicken [Tymjximichus avieri- 

 canus) and her nest of six eggs, lightly 

 incubated. The nest was simply a hole 

 scratched in the ground and was sur- 

 rounded by short prairie grass. 



I also found near the edge of the 

 marsh a nest of the Red-head 

 [Aythya americana) containing one egg. 

 It was now getting dark and we re- 

 turned to our tent, which we had 

 pitched near the edge of the marsh. 



The mosquitoes bothered us a great 

 deal and our sleep was broken by the 

 pests. We had to drink the bog water 

 which was vei y dirty and at last I was 

 driven in desperation to partake of the 

 alkaline water from Shoal Lake. I 

 found the taste not unpleasant and 

 drank quite a lot of it whenever I felt 

 thirsty. I have since suffered a good 

 deal from the effects of it. Shoal Lake 

 is a large body of water and is so shal- 

 low in many places that one can wade 

 three-fourths of a mile from shore. 

 The locality is wild and very sparsely 

 inhabited, making -t a line place for 

 wild game to bring forth their young 

 unmolested. 



On Rock Island I found a nest of 

 the Canada Goose, {liranta cafiadensis) 

 the young i»irds had evidently been 

 hatched in it before our arrival. 



June 9th, 1 was out early on the look- 

 out for Grebes nests. 1 soon found a 

 nest of- Holbd'H's (Jrebe (Colymbus: 

 holhrrllii), containing live fresh eggs. 

 The nest was built near the edge of the 

 marsh grass in about 3 feet of water, 

 and was composed of dead vegetation 

 with a few Hags and a little grass mixed 

 in. The eggs were covered. I after- 



