148 



Bird - Lore 



pour out their unmusical notes, or skulking out of sight below on the ap- 

 proach of danger; but frequently we saw them in small scattered flocks, 

 following along the furrows made by the ranchman's plow in the neighbor- 

 ing wheat fields. Two or three pairs of Marsh Hawks frequented the 



PIED -BILLED GREBE'S NEST WITH NINE EGGS COVERED 



slough, but the Blackbirds never learned to trust them, harmless as they 

 were, for whenever one of the Hawks flew out over the slough the Black- 

 birds would rise in a great cloud, cackling loudly, fly about in great confu- 

 sion for a few minutes, and then settle down into the reeds again. 



Their nests were securely fastened to the tall reeds two or three feet 

 above the water, with but little attempt at concealment ; they were rather 

 bulky, deeply hollowed and well made of coarse, dry reeds firmly woven 

 together, and neatly lined with coarse grass of a peculiar bufify color. 

 Three or four finely spotted eggs made up the usual set. 



Next to the Blackbirds in importance came the American Coots, which 

 were always much in evidence, noisy, lively, and interesting. We were 

 constantly starting them from their nests and sending them spattering ofi 

 through the reeds to the open water, where they would swim about and 

 watch us from a safe distance. Occasionally, if we kept quiet, one would 

 swim back to play about in the water near us, with the head lowered until 

 the bill almost touched the water and with the wings elevated behind like a 

 swan's, often backing water with both feet, and thus raising the body 

 backwards out of the water, splashing noisily all the time and grunting a 

 loud gutteral "Kruk, kruk." 



Their favorite nesting haunts were among the more open, scattered 

 reeds and rushes, where they built their bulky piles of dead flags and 

 rubbish in the shallow water, forming a rather neat, shallow nest two or 



