190 HISTORY OF THE 



shallow waters in search of minnows, minute snails, worms, in- 

 sect life, etc. They move about with a quick, easy step, but 

 the jerky, balancing motion of the body gives them an unsteady 

 and not a graceful carriage. They are usually met with in small 

 flocks or pairs, where they make their presence known by their 

 loud whistling "Cho-whee-cho-che-cho," and as the birds are 

 very wary and the first to give the alarm, they are much dis- 

 liked by the hunters, for their vociferous tell-tale note puts all 

 other birds in the vicinity upon the lookout. 



These birds have been found breeding in various localities, 

 but I can find no well-authenticated description of its nest and 

 eggs. The following seems to be the most reliable, viz. : Mr. 

 Nelson (in "Bulletin of the Essex Institute," Yol. 8, p. 128), 

 says: 



"In June, 1875, I found several pairs of these birds about 

 the Calumet marshes, where, from their actions, I was certain 

 they were breeding, but was not fortunate enough to find their 

 nests. The 10th of June, 1876, Mr. Rice observed a pair about 

 a prairie slough near Evanston. A few days later a set of four 

 eggs were brought him from a similar situation a few miles 

 northwest of that place, and from the description of the parent 

 bird driven from the nest he decided they must belong to 

 this species. I perfectly agree with Mr. Rice' s decision, for the 

 prominent characteristics noticed by the collector are obviously 

 applicable to this bird. 



"The nest was situated in a slight depression, at the base of 

 a small hillock, near the border of a prairie slough, and was 

 composed of grass stems and blades. The eggs measure, re- 

 spectively: 1.70x1.20, 1.72x1.31, 1.74x1.31, 1. 80x1. 38 inches. 

 The ground color is a deep grayish white, marked on three eggs 

 with spots of dark brown, and on the other egg with spots and 

 well defined blotches of a considerably lighter shade of the same. 

 In addition there are shell markings and obscure spots of lilac. 

 The markings are disposed quite abundantly over the surface of 

 the egg, but are more numerous about the large end." 



Capt. Chas. Bendire writes me that the only eggs of this spe- 

 cies in the United States National Museum, believed to be gen- 



