In North- West Canada. 31 



CHAPTER VII. 



^^ EXT morning I was awake early and out before 

 breakfast. I crossed the bridge which spans 

 Moosejaw creek and followed the stream west- 

 ward. Marbled godwits were plentiful, but their 

 nests were hard to find. A pair were exceedingly- 

 noisy and began to fly round in circles, screaming ; as I 

 knew they had a nest near, I searched the spot, but 

 without success, so I went away some distance and lay down 

 on the grass. Waiting ten minutes to allow the birds to settle, 

 I advanced suddenly to the spot where I expected the nest 

 would be found, and this time the bird got up and ran along 

 the ground for twenty yards, and then rose into the air 

 screaming. I took no notice of the bird, but kept my eyes on 

 the spot from which it rose, and advancing there I found the 

 nest and four eggs. The nest was simply a depression in the 

 ground, about the size of a saucer, and lined with grass and 

 bits of rushes. The eggs were olive drab, spotted with vari- 

 ous shades of brown and purple grey undermarkings, and are 

 similar to those of the European black-tailed godwit in size 

 and colour. 



Along the banks of Moosejaw creek grow short shrubs, and 

 here I flushed several sharp-tailed grouse ; one flew up sud- 

 denly before my feet with a whir-whir, and I came near step- 

 ping on its nest and ten eggs. The nest was a hollow in the 

 ground lined with feathers, and the eggs were tawny bufl", 

 speckled with fine spots of brown. The sharp-tailed grouse 

 is a very close sitter, and will almost sufler herself to be trod 

 on before she will leave her nest. This species is resident in 

 Assiniboia and Manitoba throughout the winter, when they 

 retire to the blufls and feed on the buds of the trees, and at 

 night they dive down into the soft snow drifts for warmth 

 and shelter. Many are killed by wolves and foxes, and not a 



