Vol 'lflf XI1 ] Kennard, The Okaloacoochee Slough. 157 



approach, they would fly off onto the prairie, perhaps fifty or a 

 hundred feet, where they would continue their courtesies, uttering 

 at the same time their calls, Whit, whit-whit, a long and two short 

 notes: or Whit-whit, who-who-who-who-whit, two short notes fol- 

 lowed by a stutter, a little lower in tone but ending with a short 

 sharp whit at the end; or Whit-whit, who-who-who-who-who, two 

 short ivhits, followed by the stutter. Often instead of flying they 

 would run over the prairie, reminding me of the Robins one sees 

 on the lawn, which after standing upright and still, suddenly 

 bend forward and run. 



I dug up a number of their burrows, but it was apparently too 

 early to find eggs, though some of the nests appeared to be com- 

 pleted. These burrows, several of which I measured carefully, 

 seemed to run in any direction, east, west, north or south, just as 

 the birds happen to choose, for a distance of from four and a half 

 to eight feet, with the floor of the burrow usually averaging from 

 ten to twelve inches below the surface of the prairie, though we 

 found one that ran as deep as eighteen inches. 



The tunnels, which were usually from three to three and a half 

 inches high and from four to five and half wide, ran down grade 

 until about two feet from the entrance, and then nearly on a level, 

 until just before the nest was reached, when there would be a 

 slight rise in the grade, apparently to keep the nest a little above 

 any water that might, in spite of the natural drainage of the soil, 

 gather in the hole in time of storm. The nest chambers, which 

 were oval, were about six inches high and from eight to nine inches 

 in diameter, with a slight depression in the bottom; and those 

 that were nearing completion were rather carefully lined with weeds 

 and grasses, but in no case with cow dung (see article by S. N. 

 Rhoads in 'The Auk' for January, 1892). In several of the bur- 

 rows we found a small tunnel about two and a half by three inches 

 in diameter, extending for distances varying from eight or ten 

 inches to nearly four feet and ending abruptly. What these tun- 

 nels were built for, I am unable to explain, or howthe^bird managed 

 to make them so small. Of one thing only am I certain, and that 

 is that they were built before the nest was lined. 



The little piles of sand at the mouth of the burrows necessa- 

 rily varied in size according to the amount of excavation. The 



