The; nidiologist 



i1 



miles. Two miles east of our camp we saw 

 a bear and its two cubs near the water, but 

 they soon saw us and disappeared into the 

 bush. 



We had to cross several creeks which 

 emptied themselves into the lake, and the 

 half-breeds told us they all swarm with fish, 

 so we spent some time fishing and then re- 

 turned to camp and had a good supper of 

 nice fresh pike and pickerel. 



In the evening the prairie was ablaze, on 

 account of one of the half-breeds dropping 

 a lighted match, but, fortunately, the wind 

 was blowing from our camp towards the 

 fire, so we were out of danger. It was a 

 beautiful sight to see the prairie on fire, 

 but no doubt many birds and eggs were 

 destroyed. 



Next day I went fishing with the half- 

 breeds, while Dippie stayed in camp and 

 skinned birds. I invited the half-breeds to 

 dinner, and they were greatly taken up with 

 our oil stove. They evidently enjoyed their 

 dinner, as we had plenty of fresh fish, 

 canned fruits, biscuits, and bread and tea. 



In the afternoon one of the half breeds 

 went to his cabin and soon afterwards re- 

 turned with his family of upwards of a 

 dozen dark-faced youngsters, and I photo- 

 graphed the crowd. 



June 26. — At five o'clock this morning I 

 was awakened by some animals sniffing 

 outside the tent, and peeping through a 

 small hole I saw what I took to be three 

 black bears. I roused Dippie and we seized 

 our guns, crawled to the tent door, and pre- 

 pared to shoot, when we discovered three 

 black hogs that had no doubt escaped from 

 some settlement near the lake. On making 

 our appearance they ran into the bush and 

 disappeared. 



After breakfast I prepared to make an- 

 other trip to the island, although I had ac- 

 cidentally blown a hole through my canvas 

 canoe bottom, but this was easily stopped 

 up with a towel, and I found she did not 

 leak much. It was a windy morning and 

 the water was rough. Dippie advised me 



not to venture out on the lake, but I wished 

 to examine the island once more to see if 

 we had overlooked anything rare, and, as it 

 afterwards turned out, it was lucky I did 

 so. I pulled for the island and reached it 

 in about twenty minutes, and walking 

 around the beach I was surprised to flush a 

 Gadwall off its nest and seven eggs, this 

 being the third nest we had found on this 

 small island, and as all the eggs were fresh, 

 it shows that the Gadwall is a lake breeder. 



I was walking amongst the stones and 

 small rocks when a dark, heavy Duck 

 scrambled through the nettles and grass 

 and flew into the water, and I saw it was a 

 female White-winged Scoter. I was soon 

 gazing with delight on its beautiful nest of 

 down, containing nine large, rich buff"- 

 colored eggs. This was a rare find, and I 

 don't know how we had previously over- 

 looked this nest, as we had been on this 

 island several times. The White-winged 

 Scoter is considered a summer resident in 

 Manitoba, but this, I believe, is the first 

 record of its eggs having been taken in the 

 Province. As a storm was brewing, I took 

 the nests and eggs of the two species of 

 Ducks and pulled towards the shore. It 

 was terribly hard work, as the wind was 

 against me, and I was afraid that if the 

 wind got up much stronger I would become 

 exhaused and then the wind would carry me 

 far out on the lake, but the sight of the rare 

 Scoter's eggs lying there at the bottom of 

 the boat renewed my energy, and after 

 half an hour's hard work I reached the 

 shore, where Dippie was anxiously watch • 

 ing my movements. 



My little nine-foot canvas boat behaved 

 exceedingly well on this and several other 

 occasions, and I have christened her "The 

 Manitoba Queen." I obtained her from the 

 Osgood Portable Company, ofBattle Creek, 

 Michigan, and one great advantage of a 

 boat of this kind is that she is so portable. 

 I have driven scores of miles across the 

 prairie with her in a buckboard, and have 

 thus been able to explore many lakes I 



