X22 



THE OOLOGIST 



species taken by William E. Loucks 

 in St. Peters Marsh in Henry County, 

 Illinois, and the picture shows a typi- 

 cal nest and nesting site. 



One of the strange things about a 

 Mallard is the care with which it 

 hides its nest. During a recent trip 

 into Canada during which we found 

 dozens of ducks nests of many 

 different species, but two Mallard's 

 nests were found by the entire party 

 and none by the writer; though the 

 birds were common at all places visit- 

 ed. 



TRAILING THE BARTRAM. 



Several years ago I was walking 

 through the pasture lands, when a 

 Quaily approached the roadside, and 

 with upraised wings poised on a fence 

 post and eyed me curiously Her 

 plaintive alarm note was a quivering 

 whistle, quite in keeping with the way 

 she gently folded a pair of long, point- 

 ed wings against her side. Several 

 years after I encountered this species 

 in that vicinity. They usually greet- 

 ed me with their weird notes, as I ven- 

 tured from the roadside to search for 

 their nests. This usually occurred 

 during the month of June, and I 

 searched diligently, hours at a time, 

 in an effort to locate the nests. 



Spotted Sand pipers. Bobolinks, 

 Meadow larks and Rails (all much 

 less solicitous than the watchful Bar- 

 tram) were harboring their treasures 

 in the same vicinity; and I discover- 

 ed many of them while seeking the 

 nest of the wary Bartram, whose long 

 drawnout whistle, though melodious, 

 has an vmcanny effect upon some nat- 

 uralists. Unless I accidentally dis- 

 covered one of these nests, it would be 

 much more difficult, to systematical- 

 ly look for and find the initial set, 

 than to locate subsequent clutches. 

 The first nest of any species is usual- 



ly the hardest to find. That is my ex- 

 perience, and I have followed in the 

 wake of the Curlew, tracked the Wood- 

 cock through the brush, and watched 

 many a duck, through my field glasses, 

 as she voluntarily left her feeding 

 grounds, to again resume the duties of 

 incubation. 



Prairie collecting in general is more 

 favorable during rainy or very windy 

 days. When the verdure is wet, many 

 birds sit closer than at other times, 

 except when approached opposite the 

 windward side, during a stiff breeze. 

 The ability to approach a nest while 

 walking against the wind, without 

 flushing the parent until you are very 

 close upon her, is due to the atmos- 

 pheric conditions and the disturbed 

 state of the vegetation, which is more 

 apt to deaden the sound of intruding 

 footsteps. 



I was going against the wind one 

 warm day, when a Bobolink fluttered 

 from the grass six feet ahead. Part- 

 ing the stems and weeds, I decided 

 to secure this nest for a group, and 

 seated myself preparatory to remov- 

 ing nest intact, with sod and all. Af- 

 ter fussing for perhaps fifteen min- 

 utes, I placed one hand behind about 

 to arise, when my finger tips touched 

 something soft, and a Bartramian 

 Sand piper wobbled from a tussock, 

 within an arm's length. Naturally she 

 was a "crippled bird" and her actions 

 indicated the utmost distress. Care- 

 fully peering twixt blade and stalk, 

 I distinguished four pear shaped eggs, 

 adeptly concealed in a natural depres- 

 sion. The frantic actions of the par- 

 ent had attracted the male from an 

 adjoining pasture, where he had 

 watched my actions for three days 

 without manifesting the least uneasi- 

 ness. 



Last year I tramped back and forth 

 methodically over every square foot 

 of this pasture without disturbing the 



