16 BIRDS 



Herring and ring-billed gulls hover over the rivers and 

 along the shores of the lake, looking for fish or decayed 

 animal matter. 



February brings no particular change except that other 

 winter visitors may have arrived or some friends departed. 

 Our true winter ducks are fishing on the open water. They 

 are the old squaw, golden-eyed, white-winged scoter, Amer- 

 ican and red-breasted mergansers. 



During the last ten days of February the great horned 

 owl may be observed sitting upon her two white eggs depos- 

 ited in an old hawk's nest or in a hollow tree. A few short- 

 eared owls may be seen flying over the frozen marsh in search 

 of rodents. 



With our first week of March, several summer residents 

 arrive, and during the month we may expect to see the song 

 sparrow, bluebird, meadow-lark, robin, red-tailed hawk, mal- 

 lard, woodcock, flicker, red-winged and rusty blackbirds, fox 

 sparrow, bronzed grackle, phoebe, and others. The prairie 

 horned lark is incubating her first setting of eggs. 



April brings the purple martin, mourning dove, red- 

 headed woodpecker, brown thrasher, Wilson's snipe, blue- 

 winged teal, vesper, field, grasshopper, swamp, and Hens- 

 low's sparrows, towhee, and red-shouldered and sparrow 

 hawks. The myrtle warbler, white-throated sparrows, and 

 ruby and golden-crowned kinglets are in evidence among the 

 underbrush and low trees. 



The April rains and sun have taken the frost out of the 

 ground and the warmth of May restores the foliage to our 

 trees and shrubbery. With the unfolding of the leaves 

 appear myriads of insects and worms. Our later birds now 



