40 



Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club. 



front; white on the crown, where the 

 streaks tend to run transversely, replaced 

 by rufous brown; tip of bill white. 



One of the eggs still in the nest was 

 addled, the other contained a chick almost 

 ready to hatch. One peculiar circum- 

 stance was, that the bad egg was more 

 badly stained and had pieces of grass and 

 other materials sticking to it, while the 

 incubated egg was as clean as could be 

 expected, considering the place in which 

 it lay. This difference may be seen in 

 the cut. 



Going back to the road we hid the 

 camera among the bushes and struck out 

 towards the east, intending to work around 

 to the north, where we thought the Sand- 

 hill Cranes might nest. We had gone 

 about a mile and a half, when we noticed 

 a pair of Marsh Hawks sailing over a 

 place that looked favorable for a nest, and 

 as they acted suspiciously, we set our- 

 selves to work to find it. In a short time 

 Mr. Hankinson discovered it, and in it 

 were three little, white, downy, red- 

 mouthed Marsh Hawks, that, upon seeing 

 or hearing us, set up a feeble cry and 

 opened their mouths like young robins. 

 We wished that we had the camera and 

 the one remaining plate, but did not want 

 to go way back after it, so started for 

 Park Lake again. 



We had gone but a few rods when we 

 heard a note that was unfamiliar to me, 

 which, upon investigation, proved to be 

 that of the Short- hi lied Marsh Wren. We 

 were now upon higher ground covered by 

 rank grass, with clumps of low bushes 

 interspersed here and there — an ideal place 

 for these Wrens. Mr. Hankinson was 

 very anxious to keep on after the Cranes, 

 so pushed ahead, but I set to work watch- 

 ing the Wrens, and before he was out of 

 calling distance, had located a nest con- 

 taining two eggs. Did I say eggs ? They 

 looked more like pearls, so small and so 

 white — a great contrast to the chocolate 

 drops of their Long-billed cousins. The 

 nest, which was built into the coarse, dead 

 grass about a foot from the ground and 

 supported by a bush, was much the shape 

 of the Long-bill's, but was smaller, longer 

 vertically in proportion, and the entrance 

 was not so well concealed. It was built 

 almost entirely of dry grass, being lined — 

 but not heavily — with finer grass, bits of 

 fur, small soft feathers and cottony sub- 



stance from plants. Further search re- 

 vealed several duplicate nests in various 

 stages of completion, but no more with eggs. 



By this time Mr. Hankinson had worked 

 ahead again, and just as I was hurrying to 

 overtake him, my attention was attracted 

 by a ball of brownish feathers at my feet, 

 and a pair of yellow eyes staring at me. 

 Upon picking it up, to which it objected 

 seriously, I found it to be a young Long- 

 eared Owl. He was such a nice little 

 fellow, being but a little over half grown, 

 that I decided to take him home with me ; 

 but the question was, how should we carry 

 him ? We finally decided upon Mr. 

 Hankinson's pocket, so there we put him, 

 but as we had no pins with us and could 

 find nothing with which to fasten the 

 pocket, we lost him before night. 



After finding the Owl, we again started 

 for Park Lake and the Cranes, but we 

 were not to get there, for we had gone but 

 a short distance when a large bird flushed 

 at my feet, and looking down I saw a 

 Prairie Hen's nest and fourteen brownish 

 or buffy eggs. The nest was a depression 

 about three inches deep and nine inches 

 across, in the black earth, lined with dry 

 grass, and partially covered over by the 

 somewhat matted surrounding grass. 



We thought that a picture of this would 

 be worth a trip back after the camera, so 

 we set out and got back just as the sun 

 was setting behind the bushes in the west 

 and there was barely light enough to allow T 

 us to get a good photograph. We saw 

 nothing of especial interest upon our trip 

 back and forth, except a Sora's nest con- 

 taining fifteen eggs — a rather large set — 

 and another rattlesnake. This one we 

 captured and took in for the college mus- 

 eum. It was not so large as the one I had 

 seen earlier, but was, according to actual 

 measurement, twenty-five and one-fourth 

 inches in length. 



Once more we had to travel the distance 

 back to the road, and by the time we 

 reached it we were glad enough to leave 

 the marsh for the good walking it afforded. 

 It was half-past eight when we got home, 

 but of course we must develope the plates 

 that night to see what success we had had, 

 so when we finally got to bed, very tired 

 but well satisfied with our day's work, it 

 was well along in the morning of June 

 first. 



