84 



THM OOL,OOI8T. 



herbage. It was a trifle early in the 

 season, as I was out more to pros- 

 pect than to make any finds; in fact, 

 I had not brought along my collecting 

 box. From the actions of this Cur- 

 lew, I fancieil that lie claimed sov- 

 ereignty over the neighborhood, and 

 possibly a nest might be begun or a 

 clutch of eggs started. Well, he had 

 thrown out the challenge, and I was 

 sportsman enough not to refuse the 

 gauge of battle. Following my regu- 

 lar tactics, I worked over the long 

 slope en right and left, and gradually 

 descended it, finally worldng up the 

 opposite slope, which extends ahead 

 of me for nearly a quarter of a mile. 

 All the while the Curlew kept nagging 

 me, but not in the energetic way that 

 meant a nest for sure. Several Cur- 

 lews were browsing along the top of 

 the knoll ahead, and since the male 

 would not follow up his protestations 

 in a way that meant life or death, I 

 concluded that his female was there 

 making a nest; and as my time was 

 limited that afternoon, I returned 

 tome, full of anticipations of results 

 on the following Saturday afternoon. 

 I give these details that the leader 

 may appreciate somewhat the dis- 

 tance from the nest at which the male 

 ■will begin his demonstrations. I had 

 missed the nest by not going far en- 

 ough, for I found it the following Sat- 

 urday by going nearly twice the dis- 

 tance I imagined I should go to find 

 it. I will tell the sequel to this be- 

 ginning. 



Starting in good time the follow- 

 ing Saturday, I had the pleasure to 

 attract the male on the slope where I 

 began the preceding week. On the 

 former occasion, having the wrong 

 idea that the nest was then being 

 started, my efforts had been only ten- 

 tative; now, however, I meant to carry 

 eggs home with me; hence in the ear- 



ly part of the afternoon I lost con- 

 siderable time by concluding that the 

 nest was on the first slopes I cov- 

 ered. Time and again I would excite 

 the male, but getting off the trail, he 

 would leave me and I would have to 

 begin all over. Toward the close of 

 the afternoon, however, I crossed the 

 second slope and saw ahead a long 

 descending basin, stretching a mile 

 long and at least a quarter wide, in- 

 tersected by several wire fences. 

 Furthermore I saw a native riding a 

 plow across the end of the field in 

 which I was operating. Now, there is 

 no great disgrace in searching for 

 nests of the Curlew but unfortunately 

 for my proceedings, the eggs of the 

 Curlew are protected by our state law, 

 w^hich covers every thing from Robins 

 to Storks. If the farmer knew me I 

 was all right, for I could make him 

 an accessory after the fact; but since 

 the railroad began to boom our great 

 inland empire many strangers have 

 come in and taken up land. Using my 

 field glasses, I determined that the 

 plowman was a stranger from Minne- 

 sota, and doubtless absolutely unap- 

 preciative of the noble aims of sci- 

 ence. The chase of the nest had 

 reached the stage where I generally 

 set up a mark on the prairio, and 

 radiate back and forth from it, trac- 

 ing spokes of an imaginary wheel 

 with sixty to seventy yards radius, 

 thus covering every foot of the ground 

 in the search. The reader can im- 

 agine the result of such apparently 

 insane action ui)on the rustic on his 

 l)low. Every round brought him 

 near me, and he would each time rest 

 his horses about fifteen minutes, all 

 the while regarding me with curious 

 interest. I fancied at times he would 

 come over and investigate, for sev- 

 eral times he dismounted, stood as if 

 in doubt about the proprieties of the 



