



THE OOLOGIST. 



than those of the ried-billcHl Grebe. 



Coots nests began to be numerous 

 and I suppose I eould have collected 

 two hundred eggs had I wished, but 

 three clutches satisfied nie, so T left the 

 rest. 



Yellow-headed and Red-winged Black 

 birds nests were also plentiful and 

 every part of rushes contained three or 

 four nests. As I was again loaded with 

 eggs. I waded to the shore once more 

 and placed the eggs with the others 

 pre^'iously collected. 



The sun was very powerful and tow- 

 ai'ds evening the mosquitoes were a 

 terror, my neck was so sore from their 

 stings that I could scarcely sleep that 

 night. I filled up my soft hat and 

 handkerchief with eggs and carried 

 them further along the banks of the 

 lake towards another part of wild rice. 

 On my way I flushed a male Wilson's 

 Phalarope from in front of my feet and 

 soon found its nest and four handsome 

 eggs well concealed iu the centre of a 

 tussock of marsh grass. The eggs are 

 smaller than those of the Spotted Sand- 

 I)iper and are clay colored, heavily spot- 

 ted and blotched with blackish 'orowu. 

 After the female has laid the eggs, she 

 leaves them to the male bird, who sits 

 on them close until the eggs are hatch- 

 ed. The female in the meantime en- 

 joys herself Avith other females who 

 spend their time in feeding and swim- 

 ming about and flying around chasing 

 each otiu'r for s])ort. Wilson's Plialar- 

 opes are like turtle doves among birds, 

 thej' are gentle' handsome in i)lumage, 

 (degant in form and gi-aceful in their 

 movements. 



In aitproaching the thick part of wild 

 rice and ruslies. two great birds flcnv up 

 with a big flap and a .splash, Avhich 

 gave me sui-h a sudfUni start that it 

 caused me to stumble into deep water 

 and I .sank up to tlie waist. I got out 

 as soon as I could, but I w.vs i)retty 

 damp. However, I was going to ex- 

 amine that clump of rushes if 1 got up 



to the neck iu the attempt. So after 

 wading cautiously I reached the 

 patch of rushes, when to my delight I 

 beheld a great nest, the size of a cart 

 wheel and nearly two feet high. Four 

 steps farther and my eyes rested on, what 

 do you think ? Great Scott ! two hand- 

 some eggs of the Little Brown Crane, 

 well, you can guess my heart throbbed 

 with joy, and I felt like yelling out at 

 the top of my voice. The eggs were 

 warm, but ou trying them with a drill I 

 found they Avere only slightly incuba- 

 ted. The nest was a mass of rushes 

 and aquatic plants, centre hollowed 

 and lined with grass and feathers, and 

 the eggs were j^ellowish drab, mottled 

 and blotched with reddish brown and 

 are larger than the eggs of the Canada 

 Goose. Putting one in each pocket I 

 waded to the shore and as I was very 

 wet I directed my steps to the cabin 

 which was a mile and a half away, and 

 changed my clothes, I tot)k as many 

 eggs as I could carry Avith me, intend- 

 ing to return later for the rest. 



Two Birds of Western Kansas. 



• Swainson's Hawk; Black Rail. 



SAvainson's Hawk, [Btitco swain- 

 soni). This HaAvk appears here in 

 large numbei'S in the fall, chiefly dur- 

 ing the harvest time. During the heat 

 of the day the}' are A'ei'y sluggish, alloAV- 

 ing a person to approach quite close, as 

 tliey perch on a fence post, haj'-stack or 

 any exposed situation; liut early in the 

 morning and evening they arc easily 

 alarmed, taking flight on the least .sus- 

 picious movement. Hoav often, after 

 crawling a long distance through Aveeds 

 and sand-bnrs, in the hope of securing 

 a specimen, have I looked up only to 

 see my pnjspective ganu^ sailing high 

 overhead out of shooting range. 



In 18i)0, Avhile hauling alfalfa, I ob- 

 served several of these Hawks hopping 

 clumsily around in the li(dd catching 

 grasshoppers, Avhich Avere unusually 



