94 



BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



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living ill peaceful security in their snug summer 

 homes, hollowed from the banks of the streams. 

 They are the true villagers here, and pass the v^in- 

 ter ill icy huts, like Eskimos. Out in the grasses 

 Short-eared Owls are hiding. Their day begins 

 when the sun disappears behind the Orange hills ; 



then one may hear 

 ^ "~ ^ the "quawk" of 



the Night Heron. 

 Red-winged Black- 

 birds nest here, and 

 in tbe autumn they 

 gather in great 

 flocks and feed on 

 the wild rice. 



L ong -billed 

 Marsh Wrens — 

 small, nervous, ex- 

 citable bits of 

 feathered life — are 

 abundant in the 

 flags, and to them 

 they attach their 

 large woven nests. 

 Except for a harsh, 

 scolding note they 

 are silent now, but 

 earlier in the year 

 the marsh is mu- 

 sical with their rip- 

 pling songs. The fervor of the love season over- 

 comes their fondness for the dark recesses of the 

 flags, and, singing, they rise into the air as if driven 



47. Wild rice. 



