THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



119 



relieved at intervals with sheets of light- 

 ning and loud claps of thunder. This was 

 one of the dark sides of egg collecting and 

 we were glad when the storm abated, en- 

 abling us to paddle back to the shore. 

 We shouldered the canoe and made for the 

 creek, and found the horse quietly grazing; 

 he was better off than we were. We 

 crossed the creek and I rode back to the 

 farm and Palmer walked. We changed 

 our clothes and then returned with a team 

 of horses, a wagon and ropes, but we 

 could not get the buckboard out of the 

 creek, so we left it, and next day the 

 cowboys got it out after a hard struggle. 



Palmer and I will never forget the day 

 we got stuck in the middle of Bear Creek, 

 or the unpleasant time we put in on that 

 sandy island in the midst of a hurricane, 

 but it served us right, as it was Sunday. 

 Moral : Boys, never go bird-nesting on 

 Sunday. 



June 5. To-day we drove to Skull 

 Creek and shot a Ferruginous Rough-legged 

 Buzzard as it flew off its nest. The nest 

 contained one young bird covered with 

 white down. I noticed even in the young 

 bird, only a few days old, the feathers ap- 

 pearing down to the toes. We tied the 

 horse to a tree and examined the bluff for 

 nests, but only found two nests of the 

 Clay-colored Sparrow, one containing a 

 Cowbird's egg. The nests were built in 

 the grass, and composed of dry grass and 

 lined with hair. The eggs of the bird are 

 very beautiful ; they are deep blue, spotted 

 at the larger ends with reddish brown. 

 The eggs can be distinguished from those 

 of the Chipping Sparrow by their smaller 

 size, deeper blue ground, and the markings 

 are never black like those of the Chipping 

 Sparrows' eggs. After we had lunch the 

 cowboy drove home, taking along with 

 him the Ferruginous Rough-legged Buz- 

 zard, and I had a ramble along the banks 

 of Skull Creek. I saw several Marsh 

 Hawks, and flushed a Short-eared Owl, 

 but could not find its nest. L,ate in the 

 afternoon I saw Palmer galloping across 



the prairie towards me. On his way he 

 had flushed a Field Plover off its nest, and 

 as he had marked down the spot we re- 

 turned and took the clutch of eggs. Pal- 

 mer rode on one side of the stream and I 

 walked on the opposite bank, and in this 

 way we managed to secure several clutches 

 of Ducks and Wilson's Phalarope. On 

 reaching the farm Palmer left me and 

 joined the band of cowboys. It seemed 

 strange to me that the son of a Baronet 

 should have to take his meals with the 

 cowboys and Indian half-breeds, eating off 

 a tin plate with a table-cloth conspicuously 

 absent, and sleeping in a shack in one 

 corner of the stable. Palmer remarked, 

 " Would not my father be astonished if he 

 knew I slept in a stable ?" But still these 

 gentlemen cowboys and ranchmen are 

 happy in the midst of their rough sur- 

 roundings. Their busy time is in the 

 spring and autumn, when all the ranchmen 

 join in a "round up," to collect and sort 

 out the animals according to the brands of 

 the different owners, and then the cowboy 

 appears in all his glory. To see these 

 splendid riders " cutting out, " or separat- 

 ing the animals from the common herd, 

 lassoing and throwing them, that they 

 may be branded with the owner's mark, 

 or herding a band of free born and un- 

 broken horses is well worth seeing. The 

 ranchmen, fine fellows from the best fami- 

 lies in the east, and from England and 

 Scotland, live here in a lordly way. Ad- 

 mirable horsemen, with abundant leisure 

 and unlimited opportunities for sport, their 

 intense love for the country is no matter 

 for wonder, nor is it surprising that every 

 week brings more young men of the best 

 class to join in this free and joyous life. 



After supper a half-breed cowboy took 

 me to a nest of the American Sheldrake 

 he had found. It was built in the grass 

 on the bank of a creek, and contained eight 

 large buff-colored eggs, and the nest was 

 abundantly lined with down. 



June 6. I again visited Skull Creek, as 

 it appeared to be the best coUecting ground 



