316 



ZOOLOGY— BIRDS. 



imens collected. During the breeding season, it retires to the marshes 

 ;i]id sloughs, where, among the rushes, it finds suitable sites for its nests. 

 These are quite large, and oftentimes bulky structures, but show a 

 degree of skill in the neat manner in which the coarse grasses and rushes 

 are woven in a firm, compact domicile, commensurate with the size of the 

 bird. On the borders of the alkali lakes of Southern Colorado, I found 

 them very uiunerous, and, as usual, in large noisy communities. In the 

 time of depositing their eggs, the pairs seemed to vary very much. Thus, 

 June 22, of many nests found, some contained young just hatched, others 

 fresh eggs, while other nests still were in process of consti-uction. Later in 

 the fall, they unite together in large flocks of old and young, and, leaving 

 to a great extent the marshes, wend their way into the cultivated districts, 

 to forage on the grain fields ; by this means they soon become very plump, 

 and then furnish tidbits for the table by no means to be despised. Noted 

 by Dr. lloiimau in considerable numbers at Camp Independence, Cal., in 

 Aucrust. 



