Five Hours on Butler's Lake 461 



which covers several thousand acres and which is located just 

 five miles to the east, no Yellow-heads can be found, even in 

 migration time. During the remainder of the two hour's 

 hunt two or more nests were found containing four eggs and 

 three young, respectively. Besides these nests there were 

 some twenty young birds scrambling through the reeds or 

 sunning themselves on dead cat-tail stalks. 



The next nest found was that of the Pied-billed Grebe with 

 five eggs. It was situated in the center of a small open area 

 in the reeds along the shore. The. eggs were uncovered. An- 

 other nest of this grebe was found in a more open situation 

 on the other side of the lake and contained seven warm, un- 

 covered eggs. About two hundred feet away from the first 

 grebe's nest was found a Florida Gallinule's nest and set of 

 nine eggs. Most of the eggs were pipped and one egg 

 was nearly hatched. This egg I put in my pocket, where it 

 hatched, and afterward the young was given to Mr. Henry 

 K. Coale, of Highland Park,' 111. 



Within a few feet of the Gallinule's nest a Least Bittern 

 was flushed from its nest in a small clump of dead rushes. 

 The nest was a foot above the water and held four fresh eggs. 

 Another similarly situated nest was found a little later con- 

 taining four eggs. A few hundred feet further on about fif- 

 teen Black Terns were flying around a certain spot where 

 the reeds grew far out into the lake. They were much alarmed 

 at my presence and kept up an incessant screaming. Three 

 Black Tern nests were located, two containing three eggs 

 each and the other, two eggs. All three were composed of 

 a small mat of rushes floating on the water, and in one the 

 eggs were lying in a quarter of an inch of water. The last 

 nest for the first day was a Kingbird's in an oak tree near 

 the lake with three well incubated eggs. 



In wading through the marshy edge I flushed many other 

 birds, such as King Rails, Sora, Coot, Mallard, Bittern, Red- 

 wing, Green Heron, and Long-billed Marsh Wren. I saw 

 one female Mallard with ten young and also many empty or 

 dummy nests of the Marsh Wrens, beside other large nests 

 resembling those of the Kins: Rail and Bittern. 



