152 THE BIRDS 
all the nesting material used under the eggs, which number 
from five to seven. Size, 1.35x1.05. The eggs are a 
delicate shade of pinkish-white before being blown, after 
which, in their crystal whiteness, the water lines or 
marks can be easily distinguished. The burrows measure 
from four to eight feet in length, and their height in the 
bank varies from eight inches below the top, down to two 
feet above water, according to location and formation of 
bank, height of water in stream, ete. They are a noisy 
bird, especially in flight from perch to perch, where they 
sit motionless in watch for small fish in the water below. 
Their cry or rattle is not unlike the wooden rattles used 
in the cities on election night, Christmas, and New Year’s 
Eve. Mortality among these birds (see Auk., Vol. 94, No. 
+, page 439) must be great some years, as the black 
snakes destroy many eggs and often kill on the nest the 
parent birds. Only one brood a season is raised. Their 
food in this section consists almost wholly of small fish, 
and insect life off the water. Unless the season be very 
forward, the birds migrating southward seldom leave 
before December first. 
