82 Bird-Nesting 



few get imprisoned by the surface of the snow hardening 

 during the night, for they bury themselves about a foot deep. 

 Packing the eggs, I followed the course of the stream for a 

 mile or so. Something rustling amongst the grass was mak- 

 ing for the water, and two or three steps further I saw it was 

 a large snake ; it dived into the water, but I was too quick for 

 him, two or three blows on the head from my stick caused 

 him to stretch out on the surface of the water lifeless. A few 

 steps further I disturbed another snake, and, as they seemed 

 to be numerous along- the banks of this stream, I crossed over 

 and returned to Moosejaw and had breakfast. 



Breakfast over, I took my gun, and filling my belt with 

 cartridges, and getting a supply of provisions for the day, I 

 hired a horse and buggy and drove over the hilly prairies to 

 the slough some miles to the north-east of Moosejaw. On the 

 way I disturbed numerous McCown's longspurs from the 

 grass, but could not find their nests. I soon found it would 

 be a difficult matter to look for nests, as the horse was too 

 fresh and had evidently not been out for some days. Kil- 

 deers, Bartram's sandpipers and willets were plentiful, but 

 the latter are so wary it is no easy matter to find their nests. 



It took me some time to find the slough. At last I reached 

 the summit of the elevated ridge of prairie, and scanning the 

 surrounding country, I saw in the distance a green flat patch 

 about three miles long by two broad, it looked like an exten- 

 sive corn field with the green wheat about a foot high ; I could 

 see no signs of water, but on reaching the slough I found it 

 covered with green rushes, which hid the surface of the water. 

 I secured the horse's head to a rope I had brought along with 

 me and to the other end I had attached an iron weight, as 

 there were no trees nor fence to which I could tie the horse. 

 I then took my gun and having put on my rubber boots I waded 

 amongst the rushes. The place swarmed with birds ; mallards, 

 shovellers, blue-winged teals, and scaup ducks were plentiful, 

 so were killdeers, Bartram's sandpipers and Wilsons' phalaropes. 

 There were hundreds of yellow-headed blackbirds, whose noisy 

 chatter mingled with quacking of the ducks and the cries of 



