26o Bird - Lore 



iF' 



tection, might prove the source of an ever-increasing progeny. It is doubtful if 

 these birds could be introduced, but, in any event, the preservation of the White 

 Egret alone is a sufhcient cause for thanksgiving, and bird-lovers will learn with 

 gratification of the existence of an asylum where this beautiful creature will long 

 be assured of a haven of refuge. ^3«| 



The Egrets were nesting high in the cypress trees growing in a lake several 

 miles in length. In order, therefore, to make the photographic studies so essen- 

 tial to the taxidermist in securing life-like poses for his subjects, as well also, as, to 



RINGED-BILLED AND CALIFORNIA GULLS, CRANE LAKE, SASKATCHEWAN 



learn something of the Egrets' little-known home life, the artificial umbrella-blind 

 employed on many previous occasions was placed fifty feet up in a cypress tree, 

 and draped with Spanish 'moss' (Tillandsia). From it photographs of the birds 

 nesting in neighboring trees were eventually made. 



The surroundings here were of great beauty, and Mr. Horsfall's carefully- 

 made studies will no doubt enable him to reproduce in his background the singular 

 charm of a flooded cypress forest. 



On June 5, accompanied by Mr. L. A. Fuertes, as artist, I left New York for 

 Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, on the line of the Canadian Pacific railway. This 

 is a region of rolling plains dotted with lakes and ponds, which, when the water 

 is not too alkaline, support in their shallower parts a dense growth of rushes, — ■ 

 the home of Grebes, Coots, Bitterns, FrankHn's Gulls, Ruddy, Red-headed 



