BIRDS OF INDIANA. 1127 



I do not know that it has been found elsewhere breeding in southern 

 or central Indiana. Along the Whitewater Valley I have occasionally 

 seen it among the bushes fringing the streams, and even creeping about 

 among the river drift that had accumulated in piles from some pre- 

 vious freshet. They are reported to occasionally winter as far north 

 as southern Illinois. In Indiana, the earliest date I have is from 

 Terre Haute, April 12, 1890. At Brookville I have taken it April 

 27, 1887, and May 10, 1885. At Bloomington it was noted May 13, 

 1886; Richmond, May 17, 1897; Dekalb County, May 12, 1890, May 

 20, 1897; Chicago, 111., April 15, 1886, May 26, 1897. 



They have nothing to draw them aside in their migration. We 

 see only the occasional straggler which falls by the way. The bulk 

 press on to their breeding grounds, where also they get their favorite 

 food. Therefore, the probability is that, could we carefully observe 

 their favorite grounds, we would find they arrive as early, possibly 

 earlier than the scattered data along the route shows. They breed 

 among the sedges, grasses of marshy places and among the reeds in 

 shoals in lakes. They are not confined to restricted localities, where 

 a small company breeds, but are generally distributed among the 

 marshes and about the lakes. They often build quite a number of 

 nests and only occupy one. Mr. J. Graf ton Parker says: "Hardly 

 one nest in twenty contains eggs. The birds must build many nests 

 before laying, as the nests are much more plentiful than the birds." 

 This observation is a common one, though the number of false nests 

 varies. Usually from six to a dozen have been found, where I have 

 examined them, to one that was occupied. Mr. E. W. Nelson says: 

 ""While the female is incubating, the male is constantly employed 

 upon the construction of several unfinished nests, until often a pair 

 may boast the possession of a dozen unoccupied tenements" (Bull. 

 Essex. Inst., Vol. VIII., 1876, p. 97). The last of^May I have found 

 their nests in Fulton County, apparently completed, but containing 

 no eggs. Mr. Ruthven Deane has found them breeding abundantly 

 at English Lake in June and July. He has also noted them building 

 August 4, 1889. They raise two and possibly three broods in a sea- 

 son. They have been also reported as breeding in the following 

 counties: Lake, Laporte, Dekalb, Kosciusko, Knox and Gibson (Ridg- 

 way), and Vigo (Evermann). The return migration occurs in Sep- 

 tember and October. They were last recorded from Hillsdale, Mich., 

 September 24, 1894; Cincinnati, 0., September 21, 1879; Chicago, 

 111., October 19, 1895; Lake County, Ind., October 16, 1896, and 

 Mr. Deane has found them at English Lake as late as October 27. 



