THE NIDIOLOGIST. 



in the neighborhood. The day was very 

 hot and the mosquitoes were terrible, 

 but, fortunately, I had my net with me, 

 which covered my head and shoulders ; 

 still the little beasts found their way inside 

 the netting. I could never sit down in 

 peace and blow the eggs or eat my lunch 

 until I had made a smudge fire of wild 

 sage ; this keeps off the venomous insects. 



I found several nests of the Yellow- 

 headed Blackbird, one containing two eggs 

 of the Cowbird. In this region I have 

 found the Cowbirds' eggs in the nests of 

 the Yellow-headed and Red-winged Black- 

 birds, Horned Lark, McCown's and Chest- 

 nut-collared Longspurs and Clay-colored 

 Sparrows. The poor little Clay-colored 

 Sparrows must have a busy time of it feed- 

 ing the monstrous Cowbird, which is three- 

 times their own size. 



I observed several Canada Geese, but 

 did not fall in with their nests. In a tuft 

 of rushes I noticed a white feather, and 

 here I found a nest of the Canvasbacked 

 Duck containing nine eggs. The eggs of 

 this bird can at once be distinguished from 

 those of the Red-head by their larger size 

 and deep grayish-green color. The eggs 

 of the Red-head Duck are never green, 

 but are creamy-drab, or grayish stone 

 color, and they often have a polish on them 

 not found on the eggs of the Canvasback. 

 My next find of importance was a nest 

 and four eggs of Baird's Sparrow. The 

 nest was built on the ground, and made 

 of dry grass lined with hair, and the eggs 

 are creamy-white heavily blotched with 

 reddish-brown. The eggs mostly resemble 

 very small eggs of the Grass Finch, averag- 

 ing in size 78x55. The ground color is 

 always white or creamy, and never inclined 

 to a greenish cast like eggs of the Song and 

 vSavannah Sparrows. Baird's Sparrows 

 are like vSprague's Pipits, very local, in 

 some places the birds are common, while 

 again one may travel a hundred miles over 

 the prairie and never .see a single speci- 

 men. 



The only important find during the latter 



part of the afternoon was a nest of ten 

 eggs of the Baldpate. I flushed the female 

 out of a wild rose bush, and the nest was 

 built at the root of the bush, consisting of 

 a hollow in the ground lined with down. 

 This Duck can be easily recognized by its 

 speckled head. The eggs resemble those 

 of the Gad \ all in color, but are smaller. 

 They are creamy-buff, averaging 2.00x1.50. 

 I spent the evening packing ray speci- 

 mens and preparing to leave Crane L,ake 

 by the midnight train for the Rocky 

 Mountains of Alberta. 



Palmer sat up with me and told me of 

 his experiences and adventures with the 

 Indians, and as we sat in the little hut 

 alongside of the railroad track we could 

 hear the Coyotes howling in the distance. 

 The cattle were restless on the prairie, oc- 

 casionally bellowing, and a long way off 

 we could hear a man .singing. " What's 

 that?" said I, "Someone out of bed at 

 one o'clock in the morning?" Palmer 

 told me it was one of the cowboys singing 

 to quieten down the restless cattle. He 

 told me the cowboys always sing or whistle 

 at night as they sit upon the prairie watch- 

 ing the animals ; it keeps the cattle from 

 wandering away on the vast prairie. 

 About two o'clock in the morning we 

 noticed the headlight of the engine some 

 miles off, and on it approaching nearer 

 Palmer stepped into the middle of the 

 track and began to wave his lantern, and 

 the train slackened up and finally came to 

 a standstill, and I was soon on board, and 

 parted with one of the most genial fellows 

 I had met for some time. Since I returned 

 home Palmer has given up his cowboy life 

 and joined the northwest mounted police, 

 and will now have to look after the noble 

 Redman instead of horses and cattle. 



Mr. L. Bhlding says that specimens are 

 needed by observers in the Coast Range of 

 California, who report the arrival of the 

 Russet-backed Thrush before the first of 

 May. He has never seen them in the 

 interior before that date and thinks they 

 may be mistaken in the species. 



