86 Bird-Nesting 



plover, is a slender, graceful bird : when disturbed they seldom 

 take flight, but walk or run along a few yards in front of the 

 intruder. In driving over the prairie I almost ran over 

 several, for they do not run out of the way, until the horse is 

 nearl}^ upon them. They keep close together in pairs, and 

 ]-amble through the grass, their long necks and heads just 

 appearing over the top of the scanty herbage. They have a 

 soft mellow whistle, and are called " Quaily" by the natives, 

 as their whistle is supposed to resemble this word. The nests 

 are simply depressions in the ground, lined with a few blades 

 of grass. 



I have a series of one hundred eggs before me, consisting of 

 twenty-five sets, the number of eggs to a clutch is invariably 

 four, and theyare very uniform in size, shape and colour. Tne 

 eggs are not so pyriform or pointed as those of other plovers 

 and sandpipers. They average about 1.75x1.28. The ground 

 colour is pale clay, sometimes light drab or deep buff", spotted 

 all over and thicker towards the larger end, with uml)ei' 

 brown, they also have numerous dark, purplish-grey blotches, 

 and paler grey shell-markings. The plumage of l>oth sexes 

 is very similar. 



As it was dinner time, I went l)ack to the horse and buggy, 

 and put the eggs and birds I had collected at the bottom of 

 the bucfo'v, and loosened the horse so that lie could fet^d on the 

 grass. After having some lunch I waded into the slough and 

 shot several yellow-headed blackbirds. Tliey are handsome 

 ])irds, the head, neck and breast is a brillicint oraiige, which 

 stands out well against the rest of the plumage whicli is 

 black, except the wings, which are barred with white. I did 

 not find any of their nests ; they are late breeders, and I did 

 not collect any eggs of this species until June 19th. A pair 

 of mallard ducks had a brood of young, and so had several 

 shoveller ducks. On the margin of the slough a §nipe rose up 

 suddenly and darted away to the otlier side of the slough. 

 It took me some time to find its nest, wliicli was well con- 

 cealed among the tufts of marsh grass. This nest of Wilsons 

 snipe was made in the centre of a tuft of grass, and consisted 



