The Birds on Bnena Vista Lake. 
81 
feeding grounds from the oi)on waters of the liake. Tn this 
wilderness are enclosed innumerable open spaces or ponds, 
varying in size from an aci'c oi- less to over one hundred' 
acres, and joined to each other by narrow water-ways. These 
open spaces are the haunts of numberless water fowl of every 
description, which as soon as the shooting season is over, be- 
come extremely tame and confiding. Teal and Shovellers 
were everywhere feeding upon the seeds of the tules. Red- 
headed Pochards and Scaup or "Blue -bills {MarVa mnr?7a.) as the 
Americans call them, were found in every pond. Sleeping 
upon a broken down bunch of tules were a pair of Cinnamon 
Teal (Qiic.rqucdnla cyan opt cm), which only took wing when my 
boat was within twenty yards of them, and then alight again 
in the near distanee. On passing from one pond to another, 
T noticed a small flock of Wigeon — a rather different bird to 
our English Wigeon — not so common as some of the other 
Ducks out west:. These Wigeon were, T found, waiting on a 
small flock of ^anvas-backs that were diving in their midst. 
As soon as a Canvas-back appeared from the depths with 
some waterweed in its beak, the Wigeon made a dash at him 
and probably secured half of it. AToA-ing on quietly without 
disturbing them, T noted a Eittern fishing from a ledge of 
tules. On seeing me it pointed its 1ienk to the sky and 
stiffened its body. With a few strokes of the paddle. T gave 
the boa*' sufflcient impetus to reach him, and as it glided 
silently by, reached out my hand and touched its body, wak- 
ing hirr up rather rudely. They differ, T believe, from the 
English bird, but are v^ery similar both in appearance and 
habits. Their breeding call resembles the sound made by 
oars in ungreased roAvlock. T have more than once been 
fooled by them. A little further on T came across a colony 
of Night Herons busy preparing their nests. The big Grey 
Heron does not nest in the tu'c'^. but selects the tall cotton 
wood.-- on the banks of the river. T was now near Pelecan 
Island, so decided to stop and stretch my legs. The island 
is only a few hundred yards long and in no place more than 
six fee;: above the water. Here the Cormorants and Pelicans 
raise their young. The island is heavily coated with guano, 
and as the smell is extremely powerful ,a very short stay 
proved enough for me. On leaving the island T had to thread 
my way through a submerged forest of willows. Some were 
