142 Bird-Nesting 



eggs were taken May 20th, 1887. The nest was in a sand 

 bank, two feet from the entrance. The second clutch, taken 

 May 24th, 1888, was in a high sand bank, thirty feet above 

 the stream. The burrow was two feet from the top of the 

 bank, and peneti'ated three feet into the cliff, where I found 

 the six glossy white eggs resting on a bed of fish scales and 

 bones. The eggs of the belted kingfisher are as large as those 

 of the European roller, averaging 1.35x1.05. 



Walking along the banks, I came to a place where the stream 

 drained a pond, and disturbed a Carolina crake out of some 

 rushes ; it swam about with a jerking movement, like the Eng- 

 lish water hen. I took off my boots and waded to the rushes 

 and found its nest containing three eggs. Here several red- 

 winged starlings had nests containing four and five eggs each. 

 A killdeer was seen running round the edge of the pond, and 

 it took me some time to find the four eggs ; the nest simply 

 consisted of a hollow scraped into the ground by the birds and 

 lined with bits of grass. 



The eggs of the killdeer are very attractive. I have twelve 

 clutches of four eggs. The ground colour is drab or clay- 

 coloured, thickly spotted and blotched with blackish-brown 

 and umber ; in some eggs the markings have a scratchy pat- 

 tern. 



At the far side of the pond I flushed a green-winged teal 

 off its nest and nine bufi'-coloured eggs. The nest was a mere 

 depression in the ground amongst the grass, and lined with 

 down. This is a handsome little duck and a favourite amongst 

 sportsmen. I also flushed a female American widgeon, but 

 could not tell exactly where it flew from. I searched amongst 

 tlie grass for twenty minutes without finding its nest, so gave 

 it up. 



I had now reached the stream at the other side of the pond, 

 which was still fringed with bushes and small trees, and 

 flushed a night-hawk from under a bush, and there found its 

 two marbled eggs laid on a dead leaf. The eggs are rather 

 handsome, greyish white, mottled with dark grey and olive. 

 This bird is common in Manitoba and Dakota, and I have a 



