120 



THE OOLOGIST. 



saw one probe into the mud and bring 

 up a small white worm, — too dainty to 

 swallow it dirty he shook it around in 

 the water until he had it washed clean, 

 and then he ate it at a single swallow. 

 There were lots of snail shells lying 

 around, but I did not see the Phalaropes 

 eat any snails. We looked for nests but 

 could find none, and as the 'birds were 

 seen mostly in pairs, they had probably 

 not begun to nest. 



Then we walked along the shore till 

 we came to a long mud flat. Here there 

 were a dozen or more Lesser Yellow- 

 legs. Can any one tell me about the 

 Yellowlegs? They come here in the 

 spring, and during April and the first 

 half of May are abundant, then they 

 gradually disappear until by June first 

 very few are to be seen; then about the 

 twentieth of June they begin to reap- 

 pear, and from the tenth of July until 

 fall are abundant. Where are they 

 from June first to June twentieth? 

 Were these specimens I saw May twenty- 

 seventh males or females? I meant to 

 shoot some of them, but when I return- 

 ed toward noon they had gone. I 

 would like very much to know where 

 they go. I have never found a nest nor 

 have I heard of a nest found in southern 

 Minnesota. 



As we walked through the slough 

 grass we flushed many Rails from their 

 nests The Soras were abundant, but 

 at this time their nests contained only 

 two or three eggs and so we did not dis- 

 turb them. We found two nests of Vir- 

 ginia Rails, one had two eggs and the 

 other six. I took the set of six. A 

 King Rail was flushed from an unfin- 

 ished nest in the water fully two feet 

 deep. I have seen several nests of King 

 Rail, but this is the first one I had seen 

 in more than six inches of water, or in 

 a large slough. Here they usually nest 

 on the very edge of a small grassy pond 

 in a hay meadow. What has been your 

 experience with the King Rail? 



After we had walked along the edge 



of the slough for a mile or more and 

 had found no nests of any value — we 

 were looking for ducks' nests, but did 

 not find them —we determined to go in- 

 to deeper water. Accordingly we left 

 the grass and waded among the wild 

 rice. Coots' nests were the first thing 

 we found — hundreds of them we saw 

 that day, some of the nests were just 

 begun, still fresh and green, not even 

 anchored to the rushes or wild rice, 

 while others contained as many as sev- 

 enteen eggs, and many were hatching. 

 One nest was way out in open water. 

 We could see it from a long way off. 

 The black Mud-hen sat on it until we 

 were within fifteen feet of her, then she 

 slid off into the water and circled around 

 us while we examined her nest. All 

 around the edges of the nest platform 

 were little red-billed, reddish-quilled, 

 porcupine-looking fellows that would 

 swim and dive as if they were playing 

 hideand-seek in the water, while the 

 oldest of them could not have been over 

 two or three days' old. In the nest 

 were two little red fellows; one half a 

 day old or so ran and hid in the loose 

 rushes which formed the rim of the 

 nest, the other, just out of the shell, 

 kicked and squirmed around as if he 

 knew something was wrong. In the 

 same nests were half hatched and al- 

 most fresh eggs. After I had looked at 

 the nestful of valuables I drew back a 

 few steps and sank into the water with 

 only my nose and eyes out. Mrs. Coot 

 was calling and circling .sround, but 

 soon became accustomed to me thus 

 hidden and came back to the nest. She 

 began to cluck much like a domestic 

 hen and pretty quick her young ones 

 clambered up the side of the nest 

 and perched about on top of the 

 platform, and great big fellows ten 

 days' or a week old swam up close to 

 the nest. Then I stood up and they all 

 disappeared like a flash. We did not 

 take any Coots' egas that day, but I felt 

 amply repaid for the time I spent in 

 watching that Coot's nest The only 

 regret I had was that I couldn't take a 

 picture of the old Coot on her nest and 

 the various sized young ones around 

 her. 



Concluded next month. 



J. C. Knox, 

 Jackson, Minn. 



