132 Vol. XX 



A RETURN TO THE DAKOTA LAKE REGION 



By FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY 

 {Continued from page 114.) 



III. AMONG OLD FRIENDS 



THE TIME to find water birds on Stump Lake, as I had learned on my pre- 

 vious visit, is during the wonderful 'northern flight' in late fall; but as I 

 must leave North Dakota before that, I went there for a week in the mid- 

 dle of July, hoping to find nests of the White-winged Scoter and to be able to 

 explore the surrounding marshes within easy reach by the Ford that the good 

 people of Hawk's Rest, with whom I had stayed before, had now equipped 

 themselves. But just before my arrival, such heavy rains fell that the country 

 was all afloat — from one point thirteen rich ultramarine rain pools were seen 

 in the wheat fields ! The road from the station over which we were glad to be 

 able to make our way with horse and buggy, had to be abandoned at intervals 

 for temporary roads through grain fields, and a place was pointed out where, 

 when road work was resumed on a submerged grade, a horse mired, and on 

 struggling slipped into the slough beside the grade, almost drowning before 

 another horse could be hitched to him to haul him out. It was evidently a poor 

 time for automobile explorations. 



There was much to enjoy, however, from the green billowy terraces of the 

 old glacial moraines to the wide band of greenwood back of the lake rich with 

 memories of nesting owls and Purple Martins, together with the smell of new 

 mown hay that came gratefully on the soft breeze after storms. All these and 

 the kindly welcome and hospitality accorded me by my white-haired friend 

 and her daughters made my week among old friends, both avian and human, 

 a delightful one. 



On reaching the lake, the White-winged Scoters were my first concern. 

 Remembering that I had been told that they sometimes nested in silver-leaf 

 bushes along the shore, I started out to look for them, accompanied by the 

 friend who had helped me photograph nestling Marsh Hawks on my previous 

 visit, a little girl, and two bird dogs which, in running around after Prairie 

 Hens and other game, would be likely to discover Scoters if they were there. 

 Walking along different terraces to cover more ground, we followed the lake 

 shore for two or three miles until, on coming opposite the bird islands where 

 the game warden said the Scoters were nesting, we discovered a pair of the 

 Ducks making their way over to the islands. The lake was rough with white- 

 capped rollers and they swam for some time against a current that would have 

 made rowing hard work. Finally the black drake gave up and flew low 

 across the water to the island, but the duck kept on swimming, rocking along 

 with surprising rapidity. As we watched her closely with the glasses, it did 

 not seem such hard work after all. She would ride up on the ridging wave, 

 cut the foam with bill straight ahead of her, and then slide down on the other 

 side, making it a chute-the-chute performance. One or two more pairs of Sco- 

 ters were seen during the morning, but the strong north wind had driven most 

 of the swimmers to harbor. 



Early the next morning when a wide glittering sun path was gradually re- 

 treating with the rising sun, four Scoters started to come to shore. One female 



