A GOLDEN EAGLE'S NEST 241 



female Bobolink seen at this camp seemed strangely out of 

 place in the sage-brush. 



A small slough at Taylor's Ranch was occupied by a 

 pair of Pintails and a pair of Shovellers. One morning a 

 female Wilson's Phalarope dropped into it to feed eagerly, 

 gracefully, with quick turns of the head to right or left and 

 half dives, but without wholly submerging the body. 



These birds, however, were as local and incidental as 

 their own special haunts, and the characteristic birds of the 

 region were the common inhabitants of the plains, the 

 Mountain Plover, Sage Hen, Mourning Dove, Burrowing 

 Owl, Shore Lark, Brewer's Blackbird, Western Meadow- 

 lark, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Western Vesper Spar- 

 row, Lark Bunting, and Sage Thrasher. 



Other species were noted but these were the character- 

 giving birds, the ones almost constantly seen or heard as we 

 drove through the sage-brush. 



To one who associates Plover with the sea-shore, or even 

 grassy prairies, the Mountain, or as it might better be 

 called, Plains Plover, seemed singular]}^ out of place amid 

 the sage-brush. It was locally common and by no means 

 shy. It shares with others of its family, all the pretty 

 Plover-like tricks and mannerisms of rapid running, grace- 

 ful movements of the head, and dainty folding of uplifted 

 wings. It is not a noisy bird like the Killdeer, and I did not 

 often hear what is evidently its song; a hoarse croak uttered 

 several times as the bird with outstretched wings floated to 

 the earth from a height of fifteen or twenty feet. 



As I feared, the courtship of the Sage Hens was past, 

 and no opportunity was offered to observe the remarkable 

 mating habits of this great bird. The females were sitting 

 and already the males were gathered in small flocks which 

 were very difficult to approach. Two nests were found, but 

 both had been raided and the eggs destroyed, presumably 

 by coyotes. 



