THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



NEST AND EGGS OF THE CANADA GOOSE. 



BIRD-NESTING IN NORTHWEST 

 CANADA. 



BY WALTER RAINE. 



[Con lift tied.) 



The scout's interesting chat about Buffa- 

 loes was interrupted by the noise of horses 

 feet behind the house, for the cowboys were 

 driving in all the horses from the prairie 

 and there were over two hundred of them. 

 It was a fine sight to see the cowboys dash- 

 ing about on horseback separating the 

 young colts from the geldings, mares and 

 foals. The colts were herded together and 

 put into a kraal, and I soon found out what 

 the scouts business was at the ranch, for he 

 had come to geld the colts. I watched the 

 operation out of curiosity, and it is surpris- 

 ing how expert those fellows are, for it 

 only takes a few minutes to select a colt 

 and tangle his legs up with a rope and 

 throw him to the ground where his feet 

 are soon tied together in such a manner 

 that he lies there helpless. 



This morning I struck out towards the 

 rolling prairie north of the farm. Here I 

 fell in with several nests of McCown's 

 Ivongspur and Desert Horned Lark. In 



my book "Bird-Nesting in Northwest Can- 

 ada, " I state that it is the Pallid Horned 

 Lark which occurs in this locality, but on 

 forwarding skins to Mr. Dwight, of New 

 York, who is an authority on the family 

 Oiocoris, this gentleman informs me that 

 he should class these birds as Desert Horned 

 Larks, for although thej' are pale in plum- 

 age and similar to the Palid Horned Lark 

 in general appearance, they are smaller in 

 size, and they also possess the faint tint of 

 yellow on the throat which the Pallid 

 Horned Lark never has, and the latter 

 breeds still farther north. 



The Desert Horned Lark is very abun- 

 dant in this region, but I did not find it 

 east of Assiniboia, as the Prairie Horned 

 Lark takes its place in Manitoba. They 

 make their nests on the ground, the nest 

 being sunk a few inches and generally shel- 

 tered by a tuft of grass. It is made of fine 

 grass and seldom contains more than four 

 eggs, averaging in size .85x60. I have a 

 dozen sets before me and in color the eggs 

 vary somewhat, some are pale olive, others 

 warm buff, or grayish pea-green, thickly 

 .speckled and mottled with ashy brown 



