In North- West Caiman. 105 



I now had as many eggs as I could carry, so I took them to 

 the shore and erected a stick and fixed a piece of paper on the 

 top of it, so that I could easily find the place again. I then ex- 

 plored the rushes further on, and soon found several nests of 

 the coot, containing from six to nine eggs each. As I took 

 the eggs from each nest, I marked each clutch with a pencil, 

 so that I could easily sort out the clutches after blowing them. 

 This is what all collectors should do when they find several 

 nests and eggs of the same species in one day. Supposing 

 you find three nests of coots, containing six, eight, and nine 

 eggs each, the first clutch should be marked 1-6, the second 

 2-S, and the third 3-9, and so on. 



My next find was a floating damp nest of the horned or 

 Selavonian grebe. The eggs were covered over with rushes, 

 and it is surprising how the eggs can hatch in such a damp 

 situation. The nest contained six fresh eggs, which are a trifle 

 larger than those of the pied-billed grebe. 



Coot's nests began to be numerous, and I suppose I could 

 have collected two hundred eggs had I wished, but three 

 clutches satisfied me, so I left the rest. Yellow -headed and 

 red-winged blackbirds' nests were also plentiful, and every 

 clump of rushes contained three or four nests. As I was 

 again loaded with eggs, I waded to the shore once more, and 

 placed the eggs with the others previously collected. 



The sun was very powerful, and towards evening the mos- 

 quitoes were a terror ; my neck was so sore from their stings 

 that I could scarcely sleep during the night. I filled up my 

 soft hat and handkerchief with eggs and carried them further 

 along the banks of the lake towards another part of wild rice. 

 On my way I flushed a male Wilson's phalarope from in front 

 of my feet, and soon found its nest and four handsome eggs 

 well concealed in the centre of a tussock of marsh grass. The 

 eggs are smaller than those of the spotted sandpiper and are 

 clay -coloured, heavily spotted and blotched with blackish- 

 brown. After the female has laid the eggs, she leaves them 

 to the male bird, who sits on them close until the eggs are 

 hatched. The female in the meantime enjoys herself with 



