234 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 90 



Blackbirds nests and here I again succeeded in getting a 

 line photo of a groimdnest. 



We returned to our wagon and on the way I observed a 

 Long-billed Curlew, the only one I saw during my stay. Prof. 

 Knight, in 1902, had written that they were common every- 

 where on the Lamarie Plains, but Prof. Reed told me that that 

 was true only at North Park and my obs'ervations proved that 

 he was right. But now my companions, who could beat me 

 in mountain climbing, were too ti'red from marsh wading to 

 try the large Bamforth's lake. So I went down alone to 

 this alkali lake which was perhaps 300 meters below us. The 

 stiff breeze was lashing the dark waves and silvery white 

 caps rolled along the shore, but on top of these there rode 

 buoyantly a troop of at least 150 Eared Grebes, flapping their 

 wings or tu-rning on their sides and flashing their shining 

 white breasts. Leaning on my faithful gun I looked at the 

 scene and my mind went back to the days of 1891 when in far 

 away Germany, when still in my teens, we could record for 

 the first time the breeding of this spec'es in the Prussian Ober 

 Lausitz. Where were my friends of those days? One of 

 them has turned a Dipterist, the other ones have abandoned 

 the study of Ornithology long ago and only one besides my- 

 self is still actively engaged in bi-rd work. I roused myself 

 from my reveries and then my gun spoke, once, twice, enough 

 for all scientific purposes. At the west end of the lake were 

 the nests, but so far out that wading to them was out of the 

 quest'-on and as I had no boat I had to let them go. Plenty 

 of Avocets were flying about me and in the long grass farther 

 back I found the nest of the AVestern Savanna Sparrow with 

 two eggs but when T came back with my camera I could not 

 locate it and had to let it go. Then we drove home with 

 troops of McCowns Longspurs and Horned Larks circling 

 about us. In the last slanting rays of the sun the bright chest 

 patch of a large Swainson's Hawk was glistening like burn- 

 ished gold, while in the distance three badgers were setting 

 forth on a forage expedition. 



The next dav we went to the 7 mile and to the 9 mile 



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