16 THE*A:UDU B.OLNSS Ole SE ean 
built by this species. No eggs had yet been laid. While inspecting this 
cover we were startled by a small sparrow which flew to the top of a 
reed and was for an instant outlined against a background of sky and 
water. It was the first living Nelson’s Sparrow we had ever seen. Alto- 
gether three were noted. One of a pair was seen to pursue the other, and 
as the date was June 9th it was concluded that probably two pairs were 
breeding in that grassy bay. 
Again there was the usual meeting with a Ruffed Grouse which no 
excursion into the North should lack. One brood of downy young was 
encountered, June 8, and on the 9th a nest with 7 eggs was found. When 
visited on the 10th the number remained the same. Quite likely this was 
a second attempt at nesting. A cock, evidently the mate of the bird on 
this nest, used a log not more than 30 feet away from her. On four occa- 
sions he kept his place on the log until the observers were quite near, then 
strutted away, slowly lowering tail and ruffs. When the nest was found, 
at the edge of the tamarack swamp, it was recalled that the male had 
always vanished into the cover at a point near his brooding hen. 
Even if one remained quietly within, beside the log fire, entertain- 
ment on the part of the local wild life did not fail. On a rainy morning 
one of the authors left the lodge after the other occupants had gone. He 
noticed three Golden-eyes circling about the building sounding a kind of 
anxious complaint. He watched them for some minutes, when they flew 
away. Returning about noon, the others not having done so, it was not 
long before he heard a fluttering sound, which was repeated at intervals 
of 15 or 20 minutes. Somehow he associated the noise with the Golden- 
eyes seen in the morning, and tried to look up the chimney from which 
the sound seemed to come. Nothing could be seen and it was not until 
the others returned and a small fire lighted, the drafts being opened wide, 
that the sudden appearance from the fireplace of a female Golden-eye solved 
the mystery. It was uninjured and being released flew straight across the 
lake. Although others of its kind had young at the season, the explora- 
tion of the chimney may have related to its possible availability as a nest- 
Ing “Site: 
We had supposed this experience to be unique but we have since 
learned that Dr. John C. Phillips, in one of his works on our waterfowl, 
describes its counterpart, the bird being of the same species. 
The authors rely upon the incidents in connection with the observa- 
tion and recording of more than a hundred species of birds, and with the 
finding of nests or young of thirty-five species to supply memories of the 
proper sort sufhcient to last out what promises to be a long, cold winter. 
