Bird-Nesting 127 



they were so thick that it was evident that a great slaughter 

 of bison had taken place on the spot not many years ago 

 either. The horns are now being collected by the Indians 

 and polished and sold t< > passengers at the stations of Mooscja\v 

 and other places. At some of the stations great piles of skulls 

 and buffalo bones may be seen along the railway sidings ; 

 the bones are collected and sent eastward, where they are used 

 in sugar-refining. 



But to resume our journey. After passing the camp of In- 

 dians, I walked along the bottom of the gorge for over a mile; 

 the banks were very steep, and in some places small trees and 

 bushes were growing out of the side of the cliffs. Turning 

 around a bend of the gorge, I startled a prairie falcon out of a 

 clifl on the opposite side : it flew off screaming, so I concluded 

 it had a nest, and I thought I saw a dark object in a bush near 

 the cliff top, so I jumped the stream, and was eager to get up 

 at the nest, for on reaching the foot of the cliff I saw there was 

 a nest of sticks. I found the place easy of access, and pulled 

 myself up by the aid of the branches of small trees and 

 bushes. In five minutes I was at the nest and looking over 

 the edge, when I found it contained nothing, much to my dis- 

 appointment, for on account of flushing the bird from the nest, 

 and the bird flying off with a scream, I felt sure it would con- 

 tain eggs, but the oologist is frequently disappointed in this 

 way. 



The nest was a large structure of sticks, and partly rested 

 on the cliff and also on the bush growing out of the cliff; the 

 top of the nest had a cavity, and this was lined with grass, and 

 appeared quite ready to receive the eggs. The eggs of the 

 prairie falcon are handsome, and are not unlike some varieties 

 of the peregrine falcon. I have two clutches before me ; one set 

 of four eggs were collected on Moose Mountain, Assiniboia, 

 May 20th, 1889. The ground colour is reddish buff, and they 

 are clouded, chiefly about the largest end, with light chestnut 

 brown ; two of the eggs have blotches and spots of deeper 

 brown, which congregate chiefly about the butt end of the eggs. 

 They measure about 2 inches by IL The nest from which 



