94 



r.lUI) STUDIES WITH A CAMERA 



living ill peaceful security in their snug summer 

 homes, hollowed from the banks of the streams. 

 They are the true villagers here, and ])ass 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 (Jrange hills ; 



then one may hear 

 ; the " (luawk "' of 

 I the Night Heron. 

 Red-winged Black- 

 birds nest here, and 

 in the autumn they 

 gather in great 

 flocks anil feed on 

 the wild rice. 



L o n g - b i 1 1 e d 

 Marsh Wrens — 

 small, nervous, ex- 

 citable bits of 

 feathered life — are 

 abundant in the 

 flags, and to them 

 they attach their 

 lai'ge woven nests. 

 Exce]it for a harsh, 

 scolding note they 

 are silent now, biit 

 earlier in the year 

 the marsh is mrr- 

 sical with their rip- 

 jiling srmgs. TIk! fervor of the 1(.)V0 season c>ver- 

 comes their fondness fvv the dai'k recesses of the 

 flags, anil, singing, Ihey rise into the air as if driven 



47. Willi rir 



