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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



FRANKLIN S GULLS AND WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBISES NEST TOGETHER 



These two species join forces in large colonies in the tulcs of the Bear River Marshes, Utah. 

 Apparently they do so from force of circumstances rather than sociability, for the expedition 

 learned, by watching from blinds, that they pass most of their time fighting. An excellent flyer, the 

 white-faced glossy ibis (right) travels miles for a meal of crustaceans, earthworms, water insects, 

 or frogs. Franklin's gull nests in marshes and is seen on United States coasts only in winter. 



out of the east. In majestic circles it sailed 

 over the canyon, looking the ground over 

 to make sure that all was safe. From its 

 talons dangled a large jack rabbit. 



Now the screams of the hungry eaglets 

 became more and more excited as, in nar- 

 rowing circles, the old bird dropped lower 

 and lower. Finally, in one long graceful 

 sweep, it disappeared below the rim of the 

 canyon and a moment later we heard the 

 crash of twigs as it landed on the nest. 

 There were no cries from the old bird ; 

 silently she came and silently she left. 

 Only the calls of the young were recorded. 



A more obliging creature was the dashing 

 prairie falcon that had its eyrie on a simi- 

 lar vertical cliff at the mouth of a canyon 

 near Denver. Its wild screams, whenever 

 we approached the cliff, made it easy to re- 



cord and the photographing was not diffi- 

 cult.* 



At the bottom of the same precipice 

 under an overhanging cliff, long ages ago 

 the home of cliff dwellers, a little canyon 

 wren had built its nest, and the resounding 

 whistles of the male were clearly recorded 

 when once we discovered his favorite song 

 perch on a near-by rock. 



One of the most appealing experiences of 

 the trip was at the home of a mountain 

 plover in the arid prairie country east of 

 Denver. It was one of those uncertain days 

 when one can count a half-dozen rain- 

 storms in different directions while the sun 

 shines brightly overhead. Eventually one 



* See "Week-ends with the Prairie Falcon," by 

 Frederick Hall Fowler, National Geographic 

 Magazine, May, 1935. 



