70 



THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



to make my way back to the village I as- 

 cended one of the hills, and after scanning 

 the horizon with my field glass, I noticed 

 the high elevator at Oak Lake, which is a 

 landmark for the neighborhood for miles 

 around. It appeared to be nearly ten miles 

 away, and it was dark by the time I reached 

 the hotel and sat down to supper. 



May 22 — After breakfast I started out 

 for the day and tramped over the prairies 

 north of Oak Lake, the first important birds 

 met with were a pair of Marsh Hawks, one 

 a beautiful little male in blue plumage. 

 They evidently intended nesting near b}^ 

 but they were so wary I could not get 

 within range with my small gun. 



On reaching the banks of the Assiniboine 

 river, I came across a nest of the Swainson's 

 Buzzard, built in a tree fifteen feet high, 

 and as it only contained one egg I left it. 



Crows' nests were again plentiful, one 

 containing as many as seven eggs, but the 

 usual number were four or five. In reach- 

 ing up to one nest six feet from the ground 

 I was surprised to see a Long-eared Owl 

 jump up. She acted with defiance, snap- 

 ping her beak and hissing, and puffing out 

 her feathers to make herself appear twice 

 her ordinary size. Her mate came to her 

 assistance, and the hoots of the two Owls 

 soon brought all the Grackles and small 

 birds in the bluff on the scene, and they 

 at once began to mob the poor Owls. The 

 nest contained five eggs, partly incubated. 



Close by a Swainson's Buzzard sat mo- 

 tionless on one of the tallest trees, watch- 

 ing the movements of the small birds 

 below, and just beneath was its nest; but 

 on climbing I found it empty but lined 

 with green leaves as usual. It is rather 

 singular that this Buzzard invariably lines 

 its nest with fresh green leaves of the pop- 

 lar; and the eggs, which are usually heav- 

 ily blotched, look very pretty resting on the 

 green leaves, when the oologist first sees 

 them as he peeps over the brim of the nest. 



I came across a dead Swainson's Buzzard 

 with one leg missing; no doubt it had been 

 caught in a trap set by some person. I 



think it is a mistake for settlers to destroy 

 this Hawk, as they kill a great quantity 

 of mice. 



I frequently flushed both the Sharp-tailed 

 Grouse and the Gray Ruffled Grouse, but I 

 was too early for their eggs. 



At noon I came to a swamp and sat down 

 and ate my lunch, watching the Ducks 

 and Rails swimming about the rushes. 

 Above me I heard some large birds scream- 

 ing, and glancing up in the sky I saw a 

 pair of Whooping Cranes flying around. 

 As the swamp was less than an acre in ex- 

 tent it did not take me long to find their 

 nest, but you can guess I was disappointed 

 to find it empty; but next day on visiting 

 the American settler I learned it was from 

 this nest two eggs had been taken on May 

 i8, and he had one of the eggs, which I 

 bought but the other had got broken. The 

 nest was nearly three feet in diameter, 

 made of rushes and marsh hay. The top 

 was somewhat hollow, and it was built in 

 shallow water. 



Three or four pairs of White Cranes nest 

 every summer around Oak Lake, and the 

 birds are well known to the farmers, but the 

 Cranes know how to take care of theth- 

 selves and are seldom shot at On June 

 17, 1 89 1, I bought a fine clutch of two eggs 

 of this bird from a boy who had found 

 them in a nest of marsh hay near a slough 

 at Oak Lake. 



During the latter part of the day I came 

 across two more Swainson's Hawks' nests, 

 and like most of the others, they were 

 lined with green leaves ready to receive 

 the eggs. 



May 23 — Spent the day in the sandhills, 

 and on my way called upon the American 

 settler and bought an egg of the Whooping 

 Crane from him, taken from the nest I had 

 examined yesterday. He also had an egg 

 of the American Goshawk, which he had 

 taken that morning from a nest in a bluff" 

 some distance from his house. I went and 

 examined the nest, and found it to be a 

 large structure of sticks, built in a tree 20 

 feet up. He called the bird "the large 



