

OHAPTKH \vi 



I'lKK <liiiuci- I started .nit alone fora slough north 



I.M.sejaw. I ascended the ri-i_r,. , in ,j 

 among the lonely rolling prairies, liutlalo l.inls 



numerous. i.< Hit in tro. 



do/en and thr next most common I >ird was Mc(',,\ 

 longspur. The song i.t' tliis l.ird i- \- i y ch. -. -ring. anl 

 tin- iiial.- al\vay sin^s as h- .l.-sc,-nls t> th- ^muml with ut- 

 trhfl. inntionli-ss \vin^s. 1 had in-: I Mu^lu-d 



malt- I'r.'in h.-r iH-st and four .-^s : tin- if-t. as u^ual. \va^ 



n-al.-d undi-r tin- sli-lt-]- of a tuft <>f ^ras>. Tlii- 



i-i-inai-kal.lf iu having all tin- marking at tin- lar^.-r t-nd of tin- 



.vh.-r.- th.-y form a /one. 



The next tind was a set of fou llartram's sandj-ijier ; 



th- liird sjit on h-r e<r^rs until I was close up>n her. when she 



ip and ran alon^ in front for a f-w yanls. Tin- nest was 



like all others I have seen, a ftinv hollow in the ground lined 



with a few Hades of dry ^rass. |Iartraiii'x sjind])i]n-rs are 



lin^ly alundant on tlu- pmirii-s. and tln-ir e^ s are often 



i foi- I'.HH! iii tin- same niannei' a- lapwing jilovere eggs 



n Kngliiml. 



On ivnchin^ the summit of a rid^- of the prairie I U-held 

 the slouch In-low in.- - nil kild.-.-rs sK)ii diseo\eivd me 

 and ^'uvi- the alarm with their plaintive cries. They came 

 flying toward^ me. and I s<>on had a numlM-r living alxm> my 

 head. They ai. a ^1'eat nuisju,, ; iey warn the other 



I'irds, who -.link away from their nr-ts and hidf ainon<r the 

 mihaa 1 -aw a pair of yellowshankx. and while searching 

 f<-r their n.--t 1 cam- across tin- ne>t of the curlew and four 

 eggs. The nest \\ as some distance from the margin of thr 

 slough, and consisted of a mere depression in thr ground linrd 

 with grass.. ]ikr oth.-r plov.-i-s. Thr eggs an- an oliv--gn-.-nish 



