/// A^orf/i-Wcsf C<iini(Jii. 41 



CHAPTER VIII. 



^=^,„WUNE !)tli. — This morniiio- I was out before break- 

 /^^IIIk ^'^^^ '^*^*^ visited the iiest of Wilson's phalarope I 

 had found the niglit previous, which now contained 

 four eggs. It was a handsome clutch ; the mark- 

 ings were so heavy that they almost concealed the 

 ground colo\u-. I examined the nest of rust}^ grackle 

 found some days previously, but it was still empty ; 

 also took several sets of red-winged starling and then hastened 

 back to Moosejaw, as I was going to leave this place for Rush 

 Lake. After breakfast, at 7:30 a.m., the train from Winnipeg 

 was seen approaching, and a. few minutes later I was on my 

 way to Rush Lake. On leaving Moosejaw we commence the 

 ascent of another prairie steppe, called the Missouri Coteau. 

 We have now reached the end of the continuous settlements, 

 and from here to tlie Rockj^ mountains we shall only find the 

 pioneer farmers in groups, here and there, of three or four 

 houses. As we ascend the Missouri Coteau the country be- 

 comes very hilly, and is studded with numei'ous lakes and 

 ponds. We shall see no trees for over one hundred miles, not 

 even a bush, and without them the short buffalo grass gives 

 the country a barren, desolate look : but the land is not bar- 

 ren, as the occasional station gardens testify, with their won- 

 derful growth of cereals and vegetables. 



There is a flutter of excitement among the passengers and 

 a rush to the windows — Antelopes ! We shall see them fre- 

 quently now, as we are going through the cream of the ante- 

 lope country. The beautiful antelope bounds away over the 

 hilly prairie on the approach of the train, and we watch the 

 white tuft which serves him for a tail until it disappears in 

 tlie distance. The country is reticulated with buffalo trails, 

 and ]3itted with their circular-shaped wallows. Their white 

 Ijones are plentiful on the prairies, and at Parkbeg, along the 



