1922] GROMME, THE NEW SCHOOL LOAN GROUPS 45 



It was not long before I heard the sharp crack of my companion's 

 rifle, followed by an instant of death-like silence. Then the place was 

 an uproar of disorderly confusion. Every Goose in the place took wing 

 and the sky became a living network of live birds. We estimated the 

 bunch at over five thousand, and this was by no means the entire con- 

 gregation of birds occupying that immense area. They did not fl}^ far 

 before again settling down in a more secure place. 



We remained for another week on Lake Wisconsin, and most of 

 this time we devoted to the collecting of suitable dead stumps, which 

 during the previous spring had contained the nests of Woodpeckers, 

 Tree Swallows, Flickers and Martins. 



It was indeed a trick to get those stumps, without at the same time 

 swamping our boat. At the point where we did most of our collecting, 

 we were about one mile from shore, and the wind, having full sweep 

 with only a few tree tops to hinder, made our movements in a boat 

 very dangerous. 



The place was full of dead snags which came to within a few inches 

 of the surface, and would capsize or sink a boat in an instant if it was 

 impaled on one of them. The waves tossed our little craft like a shell, 

 but fortunately in spite of our overburdened boat, we got back into the 

 main channel, and into still water without accident. From there it was 

 a matter of only a few miles back down the lake to Prairie du Sac, and 

 this was accomplished without difi^iculty. A matter of a day or so gave 

 us time to pack our equipment, and crate our specimens. April 13th 

 found us on our way back to Milwaukee with the desired amount of 

 specimens and material. 



On May 3rd, I left for Fond du Lac, as in Fond du Lac County 

 there is an ideal combination of marshes, hills, prairie and woodland 

 which allow a wide variety of collecting activities in a comparatively 

 small area. On this trip I used a five by seven view camera to take a 

 large series of photographs for backgrounds, as well as for studies of 

 the nests and young. 



The netting season was at its height, and it was not long before I 

 had under observation, all the nests that could be conveniently studied, 

 and as I had at the time no means of transportation, it became difficult 

 to keep a constant vigil. Later, the services of a Ford greatly sim- 

 plified my work and enabled me to cover a wider range. Mr. Gifford 

 Breitenstein of Fond du Lac, who is deeply interested in bird study, 

 assisted me, both in locating new material and keeping track of what 

 had alreadv been found. 



