THE WILD GOOSE AND GREBE GROUPS 



TWENTY years ago the lakes and sloughs of our more nortliern 

 plains and prairies were the breeding homes of vast numbers 

 of mldfowl of many species, but the demands of agriculture 

 have forced the birds to find new haunts north of the Canadian boundary. 

 There, too, if proper protection is not accorded them, they wU again be 

 dispossessed by the advance of civilization. 



Crane Lake, Saskatchewan, near the line of the Canadian Pacific, 

 where the studies for both the Goose and Grebe groups were made, is 

 typical of many similar resorts of wildfowl in western Canada. In 

 the vicinity of and about the border of sloughs and lakes there nest 

 Willets, Marbled Godwits, Long-billed Curlew, Killdeer, Avocets, 

 Wilson's Phalaropes, Shovelers, Gadwalls, Mallards, Pintails and 

 Blue-mnged Teal; while among the reeds and tules Western, and 

 Eared Grebes, Franklin's Gulls, Black Terns, Redhead and Canvas- 

 back Ducks, Ruddy Ducks and Coots build their homes. The Geese 

 resort to islands where also Ring-billed and California Gulls, Common 

 Terns and Pelicans are found. Favorable islands are also selected by 

 Ducks, and on the island shown at the right in the background of the 

 Grebe group, Messrs. Bent and Job estimated that on June 17, 190.5, 

 "at least 150 pairs of Ducks were breeding or preparing to breed." 



The Wild Geese arrive from the south before the ice leaves the lakes, 

 and lay their eggs early in May. The young birds in the group were 

 taken in June 15, 1907, when they were about two weeks old. Grebes' 

 nests are mere platforms of water-soaked vegetation. These eminently 

 aquatic birds walk with difficulty and their homes must therefore be 

 near the water. They leave the nest at the slightest alarm, but usually 

 first cover their eggs ^vith a part of the nesting material. One of the 

 birds is shown in this act. 



The young swim soon after hatching and for a time are carried on 

 the back of the parent. 



The background in both groups shows the rolling, treeless plains 

 with, in the Goose group, a hne of dune-like sandhills, where, among the 

 low bushes. Sharp-tail Grouse are found. 



61 



