Sept., 1918 A RETURN TO THE DAKOTA LAKE REGION 175 



the red-billed black-crowned birds were seen sitting on the edge of a sandspit 



one afternoon and they were often seen at sunset getting food from the lake 

 and flying off with it in their bills high across the woods in the direction of a 

 large grassy slough where they doubtless had their nests. Bands of Black 

 Terns also passed across toward the slough. 



Franklin Gulls, mainly spotty-headed immature, were seen mornings close 

 along shore, wading up to their wings or swimming around in shallow water, 

 dipping down to pick insects off the surface, dipping forward till their heads 

 went under water and their tails tipped up ; or, on occasion, standing in front 

 of a pile of foam that had blown in shore, picking daintily from its soft masses. 

 In the afternoons the gulls were generally out on the lake. In sweeping the 

 lake with the glass I would locate the flock of grebes or individuals scattered 

 out over the water by horizontal flashes from the white grebe breast or by the 

 white vertical lines of the neck; while the white lines of the necks of the gulls. 

 sometimes found swimming around in such close neighborhood that they had 

 to be differentiated from the grebes, were shorter and wider; moreover, the 

 gulls, riding high with wings tight at their sides and tails up at an angle, were 

 always veering around as if set on sensitive pivots — often making a smeared re- 

 flection, they veered so much — while the grebes riding low on the water, their 

 bodies making compact ovals, rode steadily. One black-headed adult gull, acting 

 as if trying to lead out a band of immature, faced them and then turned and 

 swam ahead, looking back as if to make sure that it was followed. 



Out among the silver throats one day, a dark duck, apparently a White- 

 winged Scoter, appeared, swimming rapidly through the flock making the grebes 

 turn to look at it. Old ducks and their broods, notably scoters and golden-eyes, 

 occasionally swam up along shore feeding and resting on the stones along our 

 beach, and a Holboell Grebe with one young was seen several times swimming 

 and diving near shore. There was also a solitary red-necked Holboell, proba- 

 bly the father, which, while the white-throated Grebes possessed the lake, 

 'walked by his lone.' When a King of the Grebes passed near him one day. he 

 lowered his head as if recognizing superiority ; but perhaps it was merely the 

 nine point superiority of possession ! 



Cormorants were often seen singly or in small numbers in the mornings 

 coming from their breeding islands out on the main part of the lake where ear- 

 lier in the season we had seen some twenty-five of their flat stick nests vari- 

 ously occupied by greenish eggs, skinny emerging nestlings, and larger black 

 velvety young with orange gular pouches, waving black necks for food. Dur- 

 ing the day cormorants were often seen in our cove — Whipple Cove — below 

 the bluff. Several times, on looking down from my height, to my surprise and 

 amusement, above the surface of the water I saw a pair of great, wide spread 

 black wings, like giant butterfly wings, the droll birds sitting on the water 

 drying them. When they were bathing, I could sometimes hear them splash 

 their wings under water, after which they would rise and flap them in the air, 

 opening them wide, and holding them out, like wired wings on a hat. When 

 they rose to fly they splashed noisily and then with loud flapping, with convex 

 figures — head and tail held low — they would make a wide curve out into the 

 middle of the bay, to get headed for the islands; for though powerful fliers 

 they were sadly lacking in the flexibility and dexterity of wing shown by their 

 white brothers of the air. Seven were seen in line one night, a black file flying 

 high toward their islands, their long pointed wings looking prong-like on their 



