2 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 94 



are so favorable, that subsequent visits to other sections of 

 our country seem insignificant by comparison. 



The vicious hawks, Hke the Sharp-shin, Cooper's and 

 /-c^ / Goshawk, ^re of infrequent occurrence. The same may be 

 said of the Horned Owl. 



Probably the artist would find little to rave about, were he 

 to visit North Dakota. Too much of a sameness in the land 

 and its dwellings. 



I imagine the geologist and botanist would both revel about 

 the glacial formations, coulees, and disappearing lakes. The 

 latter are without inlet or outlet, and evaporation is trans- 

 forming into penninsulas, what were until a few years ago 

 islands on which large colonies of gulls nested. 



Today these "pot holes'' hold countless millions of small 

 aquatic animal life where graceful Avocets and the retiring 

 Piping Plovers are lured to the edges of this green stagnant 

 wate*. 



In the bayous the Wilson's Phalarope, stately Godwit and 

 many ducks accumulate. Upland Plovers and Willets roll 

 their notes from the virgin prairie heights. Pinnated and 

 Prairie Sharp-tail Grouse abound in many places, which 

 clearly illustrates the temperament of the Dakota settlers, 

 who allow such splendid resident game birds as those to thrive 

 and propagate in cultivated sections. 



The Crane dance is rarely heard or seen today — a per- 

 formance of regular and common occurrence a score of years 

 ago, when the sloughs were quite remote from habitation. 

 This grand bird seems to require isolation. 



That silent and timid king of hawks, the Ferruginous 

 Rough-leg, still patrols the uninhabited sections of the state. 

 The nest is usually situated near a colony of ground dwelling 

 rodents, which is subject to extermination through the raids 

 of this raptore. 



In 1900 I was attacked by a pair of Canada Geese when I 

 attempted to capture the goslings. Only those who have vis- 

 ited the nesting place of this wary fowl can realize its bold 

 and aggressive nature while the young are in the down. ■ 



