February, 1915 'j HOUS E AND GARDEN | 117 ' 
The Telephone Unites the Nation 
eye, bufflehead, and white-winged scoter. 
The Barrow’s golden-eye and harlequin 
ducks breed in the western parts of the 
area. The following species breed in the 
northern part of it, and along the Arctic 
coast: the several eiders, the old-squaw 
and the American and surf scoters. 
The canvasback, which has great re¬ 
nown as the king of wild ducks, breeds in 
the deeper sloughs, building its nest in 
thick vegetation growing from water. In 
the marshes of Lake Winnipegosis I 
found a number of nests, and considered 
it one of the commoner ducks. Where it 
is found, the red-head and ruddy duck 
usually keep it company, sometimes close 
company, for they frequently lay in each 
other’s nests, and naturally are thought of 
as a sort of little group by themselves. 
The lesser scaup comes rather near being 
included, though it often frequents smaller 
ponds, and nests rather differently. 
Usually I have found the nests on dry 
land, amid grass and weeds, particularly 
on stony islands. But at Lake Winne- 
pegosis they nested altogether in clumps 
or tracts of grass growing from shallow 
water, on the edge of ponds, and they do 
this elsewhere, when convenient. 
The white-winged scoter is found only 
sparingly in the southern part of the 
wildfowl area, and only on the large lakes. 
Its nesting habits are quite peculiar. Se¬ 
lecting an island or dry ridge of land 
close to the shore, the female crawls in 
under the thickest tangle of vines, weeds, 
grass or low bushes, scratches a hole, and 
keeps the eggs buried in the loam, which 
she puts back over them, keeping them 
buried till all are laid. Then she lines 
the nest with down from her breast, as do 
all other ducks, and begins incubation. 
It is very difficult to find the nest, unless 
one almost steps on the setting bird. They 
cannot fly direct from the nest, and some¬ 
times I have caught them before they 
could reach the open shore. 
The golden-eye and bufflehead nest in 
hollow trees back from the water, some¬ 
times well back in the forest. The former 
is quite common in the timbered parts of 
Manitoba and in some places in North 
Dakota. The dainty little bufflehead, 
which is so small as to nest frequently in 
old flickers’ holes, seems to be growing 
scarcer all the time. It has disappeared 
from Lake Winnipegosis, where it was 
formerly common, and there is danger of 
extinction. 
The mergansers — hooded, red-breasted, 
and American — breed in this great area, 
and complete the list of the ducks. The 
Canada goose breeds as far south as 
North Dakota, but the other geese — blue, 
snow, white-fronted, the brant, and the 
few remaining swans — nest far up along 
the Arctic coast. Many of the shore- 
birds, a tribe noted for their powers of 
flight, nest in this great region, a few 
kinds well south in the prairie country. 
This great wildfowl breeding ground 
and its interesting and spectacular feath¬ 
ered tribes present important problems. 
Our wildfowl have been slaughtered be- 
AT this time, our country looms 
1\. large on the world horizon as an 
example of the popular faith in the 
underlying principles of the republic. 
We are truly one people in all that 
the forefathers, in their most exalted 
moments, meant by that phrase. 
In making us a homogeneous peo¬ 
ple, the railroad, the telegraph and 
the telephone have been important 
factors. They have facilitated commu¬ 
nication and intervisiting, bringing us 
closer together, giving us a better 
understanding and promoting more 
intimate relations. 
The telephone has played its part 
as the situation has required. That it 
should have been planned for its 
present usefulness is as wonderful as 
that the vision of the forefathers should 
have beheld the nation as it is today. 
At first, the telephone was the voice 
of the community. As the population 
increased and its interests grew more 
varied, the larger task of the telephone 
was to connect the communities and 
keep all the people in touch, regard¬ 
less of local conditions or distance. 
The need that the service should be 
universal was just as great as that 
there should be a common language. 
This need defined the duty of the 
Bell System. 
Inspired by this need and repeat¬ 
edly aided by new inventions and 
improvements, the Bell System has 
become the welder of the nation. It 
has made the continent a community. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy One System Universal Service 
Made in many sizes 
Special ones to order 
Most efficient direct 
system of circulation 
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