In North- West Canada. 85 



they were taken in Montana, June 3rd, 1888. The nest was 

 found in a marsh, and consisted of a mass of rushes, about a 

 foot hifi^h, and three feet in diameter. The cranes never lay 

 more than two eggs, though some authors say the number of 

 eggs laid are two or three, but I never heard of any one taking 

 a clutch of three eggs, and all the clutches I have had passing 

 through my hands contained but two eggs. This tall and 

 stately bird has the most imposing appearance of any bird in 

 this country. The adult is pure white, with black -tipped 

 wings, and stands nearly live feet high. 



Dinner being over, I went to the farm at Rush Lake as pre- 

 arranged, for this afternoon we were to visit a den of prairie 

 wolves who for some time had caused a deal of trouble around 

 the farm by killing several lambs, but the day of reckoning- 

 had come, so the farm manager, myself and two cowboys set 

 out with guns, and the l;)oys took a spade each with them. We 

 were also accompanied by the three hounds and two setters, 

 and presented a formidable party. We found the den two 

 miles south- west of Rush Lake up the side of a gorge, and the 

 dogs tried to dislodge the occupants, but their howling and 

 barking only made the inmates retire to the far end of their 

 den. There was nothing left but to dig the wolves out, so calling 

 the dogs off the cowboys set to, one enlarging the entrance to 

 the burrow while the other commenced to dig a few yards from 

 the entrance, intending to let daylight into their den from the 

 top. As this was slow work, some time elapsed before the 

 boys made much progress, and the dogs were laid down a few 

 yards in front of the mouth of the burrow, and the manager and 

 myself were also sitting down conversing about wolves, when 

 we heard the cowboy at the entrance to the den hollow out, 

 and as we glanced up a wolf dashed by us, and another imme- 

 diately bounded out of the den, and the cowboy struck at it 

 with his spade, but missed, and before we could lay hold 

 of our guns the dogs were up and bounding after the wolves 

 as fast as they could go, and we were afraid to fire on them 

 for fear we might liurt the dogs ; in fact they took us so much 

 by surprise that the wolves were some distance away before 



