52 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 87 



and the writer spent ten days studying the birds of the 

 swani]). We Avere nnal)le to put in the entire time at the 

 work l)ut spent the greater part of each day there. A boat 

 was secured, and an umbrella blind was erected on it. The 

 l)oat i)roved to be leaky and we spent some time each day in 

 bailing. Of course this interfered with the work to some 

 extent. Tlie worst trouble was with the wind, which blew so 

 violently during each afternoon that we were unable to see 

 anything from the blind. The heat at times became almost 

 unbearable on account of the excess moisture in the air. 



We started investigations on June 26 when we explored 

 the eastern and southern sides of the swamp, but did not 

 cover the northern or western parts on account of lack of 

 time. On all sides of us we could hear cries of young birds 

 and old. Black terns circled over our heads screaming and 

 sailing directly at our faces only to turn aside just before 

 reaching us. We found nests of several species and a number 

 of those of the Yellow-headed Blackbird, the one we particu- 

 larly wished to study. On the twenty-eighth we returned to 

 the swamp, placed the blind on the boat and anchored it 

 securely between the nests of a Bittern and a Yellow-headed 

 Blackliird. From this time one of us was at the swamp most 

 of the time until July 7 when we finally left. 



We wished to study as many of the common nesting species 

 as possible and succeeded in getting more or less data on the 

 Bittern, Least Bittern, and Yellow-headed and Red-winged 

 Blackbirds. The cramped position necessary in the blind 

 compelled frequent relief, and during the periods of freedom 

 from the ]Jind we searched the swamp or timber for nests. 

 During the time of the study we noted the following species 

 of birds in the SM'amp or in the timber and buslies around the 

 edge. The list could have been somewhat extended by a more 

 careful searcli of the timber, as in past years a number of 

 species have been noted breeding which were not noted 

 during the study. Almost all of the species noted in the 

 present report have been found nesting there at some time or 

 other although not necessarily in the time of the work. Their 

 presence is however good indication that they were nesting 



