In .\'"rtl. II !. l,:{ 



What it ' n rattlr snake should u" ' '"-Id "f ""' I \V.-|| I had 

 t4) confess myself that I lil M>t fancy putting my arm into the 

 dark hurn>\\ . not knowing what tli.- occupant nn^ht !- an. I 

 we stood in silmrr wondering what << mrse to tnk Tin- -luck 

 had Mo\\ n from this hank an<l although tin- huffle-headed 



supposed to nest in hollow trees, .still I supposed 

 when- thrp- an- no tn-rs tin- bufHr-h.-ad, like otht-r birds, 

 has toacciiiiiniiMlat.- it-lf t tin- country. We got down on our 

 kii.-.-.s an<i lo^jk*^! int<. -.-\.-ral l.urrows. In <M<- I thought 

 I saw something. Jinl whrn my t-y.-s m,t us,-,l to tin- lark- 

 D668 of tin- Juirrow. I ^iw it was a nest df down, so I put my 

 iirm in, t'ut coull not reach the nest, 90 we enlarged the 

 opening. an<l then suc<-i-r<lc<l in i-t-aching the nest It contained 

 tw.-l\.- - ^-^ whicli \\t-n- partly inctiliat^d, lnit \\ f vuccf-liMl in 



thrin. and making <r (MM l s]ircim-ns of the set Th- 

 were laid on a bed of down, three feet from the entrance 

 <>f thr Kurrow. The eggs are now on a table before me. Two 

 of thr lapjrst nirasiin- |!is\1.41 an-l 1.!>7\I.4<): two of thr 

 small. -st mra>un- I .!.'> \ 1 .">7 ami l.x'xl.40. I expected the eggs 

 w.nilil l-r similar in colour to those of thr common or Barrow's 

 nicks, ashy <Mvni. luit they are entirely different. 

 Th'-v mostly n-srmlilr somr varieties of the European 

 teal in colour, but of course are larger. They are a warm 

 dull buff colour, with H greyish tinge. Another clutch of 

 ten eggs, taken from a hole in a decayed tree at Oak Lake 

 Manitoba, on May 25th IVK), are greyish buff, a nd average 

 2.(X)\ 1 1"> This n, st was found by the bird Hying from the 

 hole, which was situated about tift.-.-n f.-.-t from the ground, 

 in a il'-ca.-.! Ijmk Thr hole was lined with feathers and 



Tin- lnifilr-hra.lr.l duck is not a raiv binl in Manitolm and 

 Assiniboia, and the male birds, with their puffy heads, are fre- 

 <l'irntly s.-ni s w imiiiing al xiut the lakes and sloughs. In some 

 |>aris of Manitoba, where the lakes an- surrounded with pine, 

 tamarac, and scrub oaks, both the butH.--head, wood'durk, and 

 h.HHlt-d mrnjjins.T an- regular summer visitors ami are known 

 to return let year to the same tree to lay their eggs. 



