65 



that came to our armpits, and peering over the edge — the islet 

 was scarcely larger than a dining-room table — we saw lying-, 

 on a mat of grass two white eggs, which were, without doubt,, 

 those of the Short-eared Owl. Not knowing at that time how 

 many eggs this Owl is supposed to lay, we were careful not 

 to go near the nest, and left it until w^e had more definite infor- 

 mation on the subject. 



In the meadow adjoining this marsh we discovered two^ 

 nests of the Savannah Sparrow, each with five beautifully 

 marked eggs. Here, also, in an old shack, we found two pairs; 

 of Barn Swallows nesting. It was now near the end of the- 

 day, and we reluctantly started back to camp. On the way 

 Wilcox flushed a pair of Wilson's Snipe, which apparently 

 had young in an adjacent alder thicket, as broken egg shells; 

 were found in a little grassy spot at its edge. 



While looking for the nest of a Green-winged Teal, which: 

 we had flushed early in the morning, we had the exceptional! 

 good luck to find the nest of a Virginia Rail, the only individual 

 of the species which we saw during our stay on the islands- 

 The nest was interesting because of its peculiar situation: it 

 was placed on the end of the limb of a spruce tree which ex- 

 tended out over a slough and was surround-ed by a bunch of 

 dead cat-tails. So quietly did Prest approach the nest that 

 the bird did. not fly; and apparently relying on its protective 

 coloration, it sat there while we looked at it from a distance 

 of a couple of feet. The nest contained nine eggs. 



We were not successful in finding the nest of the Green- 

 winged Teal, though we saw the bird again at this place on 

 several other occasions. The identification was fairly rehable, 

 since in each instance, when the bird was flushed, she im- 

 mediately joined a male Green-winged Teal in a neighboring 

 pond. 



We then returned to camp and were greeted by Quinn with 

 ■his one-horse shay, for he had instructions to return for us. 

 whenever the weather conditions appeared favorable for a trip 

 to the Bird Rock. We therefore piled both the cameras and 

 our collecting outfit into the cart and started back for Grosse 

 Isle, leaving our camp to the mercy of the elements. 

 5 



