6 



THE OOLOGIST. 



than those of the Pied- billed Grebe. 



Coots 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 Black 

 birds nests were also plentiful and 

 every part 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 tow- 

 ards evening the mosquitoes were a 

 terror, my neck was so sore from their 

 stings that I could scarcely sleep that 

 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 Sand 

 piper and are clay colored, heavily spot- 

 ted 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 hatch- 

 ed. The female in the meantime en- 

 joys herself with other females who 

 spend their time in feeding and swim- 

 ming about and flying around chasing 

 each other for sport. Wilson's Phalar- 

 opes are like turtle doves among birds, 

 they are gentle' handsome in plumage, 

 elegant in form and graceful in their 

 movements. 



In approaching the thick part of wild 

 rice and rushes, two great birds flew up 

 with a big fla.p and a .splash, which 

 gave me such a sudden start that it 

 caused me to stumble into deep water 

 and I sank up to the waist. I got out 

 as soon as I could, but I was pretty 

 damp. Hftwever, I was going to ex- 

 amine that clump of rushes if I got up 



to the neck in the attempt. So after 

 wading cautiously I reached the 

 patch of rushes, when to my delight I 

 beheld a great nest, the size of a cart 

 wheel and nearly two feet high. Four 

 steps farther and my eyes rested on, what 

 do you think V Great Scott ! two hand- 

 some eggs of the Little Brown Crane, 

 well, you can guess my heart throbbed 

 with joy, and I felt like yelling out at 

 the top of my voice. The eggs were 

 warm, but on trying them with a drill I 

 found they were only slightly incuba- 

 ted. The nest was a mass of rushes 

 and aquatic plants, centre hollowed 

 and lined with grass and feathers, and 

 the eggs were yellowish drab, mottled 

 and blotched with reddish brown and 

 are larger than the eggs of the Cauade 

 Goose. Putting one in each pocket I 

 waded to the shore and as I was very 

 wet I directed my steps to the cabin 

 which was a mile and a half away, and 

 changed my clothes, I took as many 

 eggs as I could carry with me, intend- 

 ing to return later for the rest. 



Two Birds of "Western Kansas. 



Swainson's Hawk; Black Rail. 



Swainson's Hawk, (Buteo swain- 

 soni). This Hawk appears here in 

 large numbers in the fall, chiefly dur- 

 ing the harvest time. During the heat 

 of the day they are very sluggish, allow- 

 ing a person to approach quite close, as . 

 they perch on a fence post, hay-stack or 

 any exposed situation; but early in the 

 morning and evening they are easily 

 alarmed, taking flight on the least sus- 

 picious movement. How often, after 

 crawling a long distance through weeds 

 and sand-burs, in the, hope of securing 

 a specimen, have I looked up on\y to 

 see my prospective game sailing high 

 overhead out of shooting range. 



In 1890, while hauling alfalfa, I ob- 

 served several of these Hawks hopping 

 clumsily around in the field catching 

 grasshoppers, which were unusually 



