VOL. IX. 



The OoLOGiST. 



ALBION, N. y., JAN., 1892. 



NO. I 



Bird Nesting in North-West Canada- 

 By W. Raine, Toronto, Can.* 



Jan. 18, 1891. 



Putting on mj'^ rubber boots I went 

 -down to the lake behind the cabin. 

 Long Lake is about ten miles in length 

 and half a mile wide. The Canadian 

 Pacific Railway crosses over it, and I 

 was now at the south end of the lake. 



The lake is surrounded with tall 

 rushes and wild rice which grows ten 

 feet high. The place swainiied with 

 birds, and only those who have visited 

 a similiar spot, can foi'm any idea of 

 the number and varietj" of Avild fowls 

 frequenting such a marsh. Out in the 

 open water, were Red-heads, Canvas- 

 backs, Scaups, and Ring-billed Ducks, 

 Blue-winged Teals, Shovellers, Mallards, 

 Western, Red-necked and Horned 

 <irebe. Coots and other water-birds, 

 while amongst the rushes were him- 

 dreds of Yellow-headed Black-birds, 

 Red-winged Starlings and Marsh 

 Wrens. 



On reaching the margin of the lake I 

 began to examine the rushes and soon 

 found a number of nests of the Yellow-- 

 headed Black-bird, they are handsome 

 birds Avith brilliant orange colored 

 heads and breasts. Their nests are cup- 

 shaped and made of grasses and fine 

 rushes and contained four or live eggs 

 each, which resemljle the Lark family 

 more than the bhick-birds. 



Long-lVilled Marsh Wrens nests were 

 numerous and after examining about a 

 dozen nests I found one containing six 

 eggs- The water soon came over my 

 boot tops, but I did not mind getting 

 my legs wet, for I saw I was going to 

 have some sport. 



♦This Is chapter IT In Mr. Kalnes forth-coming 

 work on Bird Nesting In North-Weat Canada. 



Just in front of me I saw a large bas- 

 ket shaped nest, covered with grass 

 and aquatic plants, and brushing them 

 off I found the nest to contain a beauti- 

 clutch of twelve eggs of the Canvas- 

 backed Duck. The birds were swim- 

 ming out on the lake not far away. 

 The nest was similar to that of a Coot 

 and the eggs rested on a bed of down 

 and feathers, they wei'e pale greenish- 

 drab and as large as the eggs of the 

 Red-head. I saw the eggs were fresh so 

 I put them in my handkerchief and 

 waded towards dry land. A few yards 

 further and a Carolina Crake stumbled 

 off its nest, just before my feet. The 

 nest was about the size os a basin and 

 made of sedges and contained eight 

 butY colored eggs, spotted witli reddish 

 brown. 



I now had as many eggs as I could 

 carry so I took them to the shore and 

 erected a stick and fixed a piece of pa- 

 per on the top of it so I could easily 

 find the place again. I then explored 

 the rushes further on and soon found 

 several nests of the Coot containing 

 from six to nine eggs each. As I took 

 the eggs from each nest I marked each 

 clutch with a pencil so that I conld 

 easily sort out thc' clutches after blow- 

 ing them, this is what all collector's 

 should do when they find several nests 

 and eggs of the same species in one 

 day. 



Supposing you find three nests of 

 Coots containing six, eight and nine 

 eggs each, the first clutch should be 

 marked 1-G,the second 2-8 and the third 

 3-9, and so on. 



My next find was a fioating damp 

 nest of the Horned Grebe, the eggs 

 were covered over with rushes and it is 

 surprising how the eggs can hatch in 

 such a damp situation. The nest con- 

 six fresh eggs which are a trifle larger 



