94 BIRD STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 
living in peaceful security in their snug summer 
homes, hollowed from the banks of the streams. 
They are the true villagers here, and pass the win- 
ter in 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- 
| ame birds nest here, and 
in the autumn they 
, gather in great 
| iii | tee flocks and feed on 
VA the wild rice. 
Long-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. 
