AMONG THE WATER FOWL 



On a certain part of the shore of Devil's Lake 

 there is another similar area of timber, where, late 

 in June, during the tour described above, I had a 

 most fascinating time for several days with the 

 Golden-eyes. We had just encamped near-by, and 

 I was taking a preliminary stroll through the grove 

 that had some quite large trees, some of them being 

 mere decayed shells. At length I came to a stub 

 with a large round opening at the top of the main 

 trunk, about ten feet from the ground. No bird 

 flew at my rapping, nor was there any down visible 

 at the entrance. However, I though I would scram- 

 ble up and look in. About an arm's length from 

 the opening was a mass of white down and feathers 

 that filled the cavity. Reaching into it, I felt eggs 



a large number 

 of them. It 

 seemed as 

 though the count 

 would never 

 end, but I finally 

 ascertained that 

 the number was 

 sixteen, piled 

 there in a great 

 heap, two or 

 three deep. 



With this en- 

 couragement I 

 began to look 

 for more holes. Only a few rods from this stub I 

 soon discovered another hole in a large tree, about 

 as high up as my head. Below it, about waist high, 



198 



" AT LENGTH I CAME TO A STUB WITH A LARGE ROUND 

 OPENING AT THE TOP OF THE MAIN TRUNK." NEST 

 OF AMERICAN GOLDEN - EYE CONTAINING SIXTEEN 

 EGGS 



