hankinson] 



ANIMAL LIFE IN PRAIRIE PONDS 



241 



pectoral sandpipers were feeding in the field close to the pond 

 margin. Upland plovers also frequent such places in early spring 

 as well as killdeers. Other birds that have been recorded in or 

 close to these ponds, undoubtedly attracted by them, are mourning 

 doves, marsh hawks, Cooper's hawks, flickers, rusty blackbirds, 

 song sparrows, tree sparrows, juncoes, Maryland yellow-throats, 

 and bluebirds. A number of other species of birds undoubtedly 



Fig. 7. Prairie Pond, showing details of the marsh zone in early spring 



visit or dwell at these ponds or small marshes, that have not been 

 noted by the writer. Farmers say that wild ducks and even wild 

 geese alight in them in spring and fall, when plenty of water is 

 present there. 



This brief and incomplete account of the animals of some prairie 

 ponds, based on observations made during the last few years on a 

 number of trips taken to them, separated by rather long and 

 irregular time intervals, may be of some use to nature-study 

 teachers. Places of the type described may be looked for. Not 



