BIRDS OF INDIANA. 693 



finally separate into small parties of two or three pairs. About the 

 middle of May their love-making commences, and is at first indicated 

 by the increasing solicitude they show for each other's welfare. The 

 appearance of a person in their vicinity at this time is the signal for all 

 the birds near to come circling about, though not within easy gun- 

 shot. By a careful approach one may now and then find a small party 

 swimming about in some secluded pool. 



The charming grace of movement exhibited at such times, com- 

 bined with their tasteful elegance of attire, form one of the most 

 pleasing sights one could witness as they swim buoyantly from side 

 to side of the pool, gracefully nodding their heads, now pausing an 

 instant to arrange a feather or to daintily gather some fragment of 

 food, and now floating idly about, wafted by the slight breeze, which 

 at intervals ripples the surface of the water. A more common, but 

 scarcely less pleasing sight, is presented when, unconscious of obser- 

 vation, they walk sedately along the border of the water, never de- 

 parting from their usual grace of movement. Their food is generally 

 found in such places, where the receding water furnishes a bountiful 

 supply. The only demonstrations I have observed during the pairing 

 time consist of a kind of solemn bowing of the head and body; but 

 sometimes, with the head lowered and thrust forward, they will run 

 back and forth in front of the object of their regard, or again, a pair 

 may often be seen to salute each other by alternately bowing or lower- 

 ing their heads; but their courtship is characterized by a lack of the 

 rivalry and vehemence exhibited by birds. 



The nesting is usually in some thin tuft of grass on a level spot,- but 

 often in an open place concealed only by a few straggling blades of 

 small carices. The male scratches a shallow depression in the soft 

 earth, which is usually lined with a thin layer of fragments of old 

 grass blades, upon which the eggs, numbering from three to four, are 

 deposited about the last of May or first of June. Owing to the low 

 situations in which the nests are placed, the first set of eggs is often 

 destroyed by a heavy fall of rain, causing the water to rise so as to 

 submerge the nest. In this case, the. second set, numbering two or 

 three, are often deposited in a depression, scratched in the ground, as 

 at first, but with no sign of any lining. Accidents of this kind cause 

 the second set of eggs to be deposited sometimes as late as the last of 

 June. 



The young usually appear about the third week of June, and are 

 able to fly in about three weeks. Generally a number of pairs nest 

 upon the same marsh. In some instances as many as fifty may be 

 counted within the radius of a mile; but notwithstanding this, their 



