NOTES FROM THE PRAIRIE 107 



many ' prairie schooners ' that had passed that 

 way had probably dropped the one seed. 

 Mother dug it up and planted it in our flower- 

 bed, and in two years the neighborhood was 

 yellow with them — all from that one root. 

 The prairies are gone now, and the wild- 

 flowers, those that have not been civilized to 

 death like the Indians, have taken refuge in 

 the fence-corners." 



I had asked her what she knew about cranes, 

 and she replied as follows : — 



"During the first few years after we came 



West, cranes, especially the sand-hill variety, 



were very plentiful. Any day in the summer 



you might see a triangle of them flying over, 



with their long legs dragging behind them ; or 



if you had sharp eyes, could see them stalking 



along the sloughs sometimes found on the 



prairie. In the books I see them described as 



being brown in color. Now I should not call 



them brown, for they are more of a yellow. 



They are just the color of a gosling, should it 



get its down somewhat soiled, and they look 



much like overgrown goslings set up on stilts. 



I have often found their nests, and always in 



the shallow water in the slough, built out of 



sticks, much as the children build cob-houses, 



about a foot high, with two large flat eggs in 



them. I have often tried to catch them on 



their nests, so as to see how they disposed of 



their long legs, but never quite succeeded. 



They are very shy, and their nests are always 



60 situated as to enable them to see in every 



