28 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



get off at a small station and drive several miles into 

 the country, and to my surprize our road led us past a 

 cluster of small lakes, the largest covering perhaps one 

 hundred acres. These lakes evidently were not deep, 

 for the cat-tails, rushes, and other plants grew in profu- 

 sion for several rods along the shore. I was surprized to 

 find these beautiful little lakes where I did not know 

 there was any water, and was doubly surprized at the 

 swarm of birds living on their shores. Blackbirds, kill- 

 deers, curlews, several kinds of ducks, a few gulls, and 

 black terns were there in such numbers as I have sel- 

 dom seen anywhere. In fact, I have often said that on 

 the shores of these lakes water fowl were as thick as the 

 chickens in the barnyard at home, and many of them 

 seemed almost as fearless. 



It was the last of May or the first of June, I am not 

 sure just which, and knowing that this was the time 

 most of these birds would be nesting I could not forego 

 the pleasure of spending some time looking for nests 

 and young birds. Here was a mallard duck leading 

 half a dozen balls of fluffy down into the tall rushes, 

 and there was a pintail duck, equally bent on hiding her 

 youngsters among the cat-tails on the other side, while 

 nests of the red-winged blackbird were to be seen on every 

 hand. I started to pick my way along the edge of one 

 of these little lakes when suddenly a black tern began to 

 circle over my head and scream in the most excited 

 way. "A-ha," I thought. "You have a nest somewhere 

 near. I wonder if I shall be able to find it." I moved 

 a few feet further and she became more and more ex- 

 cited every moment, circling closer and closer and scream- 

 ing louder and louder. Somehow I missed her nest and 



