CAPPED EGGS, SET OF 1912 



carelessly ran a finger beneath a scanty wisp of hay, clear beyond the water- 

 soaked areas, — only to touch an egg — two eggs! — but no sign of a nest was there 

 at all! These eggs were very small; and, while marked with very unjamaicensis- 

 like concentrations of spots at apex, they were spotted alt over] And so, we 

 waited — poor, fine John Knox and I — for that set of eggs to be completed. 

 But we had carelessly gone to North Dakota without permits to collect. More- 

 over, we had, a few days before, stumbled upon a deputy game warden. 



Under such stress did we wait, one, two, three days. The odd Rail 

 set now numbered five eggs. But I had lain stark awake o'nights, for fear of 

 losing so precious a set of eggs altogether. 



And then, at three o'clock of the third morning, in vivid moonlight, we 

 rose after sleepless hours, to visit the coulee. Under the radiant moonlight we 

 stumbled across the hog-wallow, traversed the smoother prairie, descended 

 the ravine by which we had always gone, and soon, amid a chorus of "tick-tick, 

 tick-tick-ticks" , were creeping, cautiously out upon the meadow. 



No weirder environ ever greeted bird-lovers. Already, the day-birds 

 were sleepily arousing; while the night-birds were at it, full tilt. Ever and anon 

 there would float softly out upon the dewy air that soft, cooing, little-known 

 call of the Short-eared Owl, Coot-coot-coot-coot? (with rising inflection). Already 

 the Sharp-tailed Grouse were beginning to hoot. Here and there a piping Sora 

 whistled his warning cry. Now and then, faintly, all about us, came the soft, 

 croaking quack of amative Phalaropes, two females chasing a single male, 

 swiftly and undulatingly, in midair. Two male Yellow Rails were clicking away 

 lustily, an unceasing duet. The moon shone down with an almost unearthly 

 brilliance. Mists were spectrally rising; and all the pungence of the morning 

 meadows added its tang to the thrill of early days. With no small difficulty — it 

 being yet dark for the finding of small things — did I spot my white signals. 

 With utmost care I groped for the hidden eggs; and found them, at last. There 

 were now SIX of them, the last probably having been added within the hour, 

 or such a matter. Strange enough, then, was the thing we had iound. There 

 was no nest at all, — not even a hollowed place. The date being normal, we could 

 think of no possible reason for this negligence. 



42 



