CIHM IVSicrofiche Series (Monographs) ICMH Collection de microfiches (monographies) Canadian Instituta for Hiatorical Microraproductiona / inatitut Canadian da microraproductiona hiatoriquaa The imtitutt hm MlMnpiid to obHin tfM tawt orifiiMi copy awitabte for fHmint. fmtmm of M» coyy wWdi OftfM L'ImtHHt a Micrafilin* lo iiMMiww •mmpMrt ^uH tai • M poMibto 4t M proM I ^Hi font povt^tfo I t ^Ul PMIVSIIt MOWf Mf 1 SColoorad eevon/ CoHMTturatf* □ COMM dMIM|td/ CoMwrium □ CoMn wilowQ Mid/or IwiiMtM/ Cownrtiira ratiMirtt M^o paNieulte □ Cow titia MiMifii/ UtHradai □ Coloand maps/ Cartas ftefraphiqtiai an 0Colo«rad ink (i.a. othar than Mua or blaek)/ Enera da coulayr (i.a. autrt qua Waua o« noira) □ ColoiHod platM and/or Hhntrations/ Wanchaa at/ou iliuttratioiM an coMtaur D Bound urith otiiar matarial/ avac d autras documanti derombraoudala □ Ti#it Wndinf may alon§ intarior mariin/ La raUura tarrAa paut < dbtorsion la long da la □ Blank iaaaat addid during raateration way within tha taxi. Whanavar ■aan oniitlad from fikning/ II la paut 9ua cartalnai pagi lort d'una rattauration apparainant mail, loraqua eala tait poaiiMa. eat lataxta. n'ont y/ Additional eommanti:/ Conmiantairaa luppHnianlaim; VaHova paging*. □ Colourad Pagaidai 0 and/br at/ou nainadorfeiiad/ □ Quality of print varia*/ Qualiti in«gria da rimpiassion □ Continuous pagination/ Fagination continua □ Indudas indax(as)/ Comprand un (dm) indax Titia on hssdsi takan from:/ La titra da I'an-ttla proviant: □ Titlapagaof Nga da titra j I Caption of issua/ D da la litrraison Titra da dtpart da la livraison G«n«riqua (piriodiquas) da la livraison TMt itam is f ihnad at tha raduetion ratio chaekad baiow/ Ca dooHnant ast film* au taux da rMuetion indiqui 'OX 14X ItX n 12X ItX »X ax 2«X 30X J HX 2tX a2x Th* copy filmod tmn hat bMn raproduead thanks to tha ganaroaity of: National Library of Canada L'axamplaira fHm« f ut raprodult griea i la g«n«roalti da: BIMIotMqua natlonala du Canada quality laoibiHty tha Tha Imagaa appaaring harr ara tha posalbia eonaldaring tha t^'.ndMon of tha original copy and in kaaplng filming contract spacif icatlons. Original oopias in printad papar eovars ara fHmad baginning whh tha front eovar and anding on tha last paga with a printad or llhwtratad Impraa- ston, or tha back eovar whan appropriata. AH othar original copias ara filmad baginning on tha first paga with a printad or iiluatratad impraa- sion, and anding on tha laat paga «vlth a printad or iiluatratad imprasslon. Tha laat racordad frama on aaoh mierofieha shaM contain tha symbol -^> (moaning "CON- TINUED"), or tha symbol ▼ (moaning "END"). wMchavar appliaa. iMapa. plataa, charta, ate., may ba filmad at diffarant raductkm ratioa. Thoaa too larga to ba antlraly includad in ono axpoaura ara fHmad baglnniitg in tha uppar laft hand eomar, laft to right and top to bottom, as many framas aa required. The foNowIng diagrams illustrate the method: Lee Imagaa suhrantea ont «t« raproduitee avec le plua grand soin, compta tenu de le condition et do le nettet* de I'exempleire film*, et en conformM evec lee conditions du contret de filmage. Lee exempleirea orlginaux dont le eouverture en pepier eat Imprimto sent ftlmAs sn commen^nt per le premier plot et en terminent soit per le demMre pege qui comporte une emprelnte dimpreeeion ou dlllustrstion, soh per le second plot, eelon le ees. Tous lee eutres exemplalres origineux sent fUmis en commen^ent per le premMre pege qui comporte une emprelnte d'impreeston ou dlNustretlon et en termlnem per le demMre pege qui comporte une toHe emprelnte. Un dee symboles suh/snts eppereftre sur la demMre imege de cheque microfiche, selon le caa: to aymboto -^ signHto "A 8UIVRE", to symboto ▼ signlfto "HN". Ue certes. plenches, tsbtoeux. etc., peuvem ttre fHm«s i dee taux de rMuctton dHfirents. Lorsque to document eet trap grend pour ttre reproduh en un soul clich*, II est fHnM « pertir de I'engto eup«rieur geuche, de gauche A droite. et de heut en bee, en prenant to nombra d'Imagee nteeeaaira. Lee diegremmes suh^nts INustrent to nMthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MKXOCOrV RBOIUTiON TBT CHART (ANSI and ISO TSST CHART No. 2) \^ 114 il.< /APPLIED IM/1GE Inc 1653 Cost Moin SIrMt Rochntar. Nm> York 14609 USA (716) 462 - 0300 - Phofw (716) 2a8-Mas-ra> :9^-^j7^/wf -/e^. lA/ AMONG THE WATER-FOWL AMONG THE WATER- FOWL OBSERVATION, ADVENTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY. A POPULAR NARRA- TIVE ACCOUNT OF THE WATER-FOWL AS FOUND IN THE NORTHERN AND MIDDLE STATES AND LOWER CANADA, EAST OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS by HERBERT K. JOB nOmSBLT ILLVSTRATBD BY PHOTOGRAPHS FROM NATURB MOSTLT BY J-HB AUTHOR TORONTO THE MUSSON BOOK CO. LIMITED PHnted in Garden City, N. Y., U. S. A. All rights reftrved, including that tf translation'into foreign languagej, including the Scandinancm TO MY Wire WHO HRST INVEIGLED MB IBTTO USING THE CAMERA THIS VOLUME IS APFECTIONATBLY DEDICATED PREFACE .hJl """ '?" ''""'"'"' bird-pictures of Audubon that fccmated me as a child and made me love A^ f undrnVet" '" '^TV"''"' -'^•' « -"" t By "he time Zt F'" Z "" '"'"''^ "^ B"*'""" the^r ixtr/i » °".' '"' ''™" acquaintance \d"h aU the f T"* ' ""^"'"•'le knew by h^art buf ^f ^'"^ England" I almost the Water-Fowr ^' ^^ ''°PP^^ «*^°^t of vii Pkeface gated, and many the narrow escapes. However I am yet alive, and the Wild-Fowl have thought' it best, ,n view of my persistency, to take me in some measure into their confidence and divulge to me •omc of their secrets. And now, after rounding out a ful quarter-century of these pryings, on land and sea, I hope that I am not abusing the confidence of my wild friends in telling what they have taught hL U ^°^7«.«"d Chippies, -ith their kin, have been popularized in books innumerable ; bu why should not the great Nature-loving public find also interesting and instructive the lives and ways of ttul''7f °"V ^" ''""' P^^' ^^-« ^-« been thought of largely as targets for the gun. Perhaps they will pardon me for laying bare their lives lo scrutiny, as I protest to. them, upon the first occa- sion of our future meetii , that I am trying to raise up friends for them, not foes. It will mark a new WnrF°"l "^"f'^^^ ^^«n ^h« now persecuted Wild-Fowl can alight in the village pond and feed m peace, the object only of friendly admiration As yet they are fearful of that new, mysterious Cyclops with Its staring eye, the camera; but I hope they may learn to recognize in it a real friend, for in thousands of hands this is taking the place of the gun. Far be it from me to deny that there are legitimate uses for the dead bird. But owing to relentless, short-sighted slaughter, hitherto carried on. It is coming to be a question of birds or no birds. Every true sportsman will practise great moderation in the capture of game, and every thought- ful lover of wild life stand for its protection. Exer- cise afield and contact with Nature are invaluable, viii Preface but require «, incentive If the detraction of life cin be minimized by the finding of rome Mtisiic- tonr.ub.ti.ute for the gun. no onlwill be 'h^ c^' Such a .ubstitute I mywlf hive found in the «mer., which fully Mfdi.. my hunter'. inSinc F.r more .kill and rewurce are required to pho,t graph a w.ld creature than to .hoot it, ,„d the p ^ ture. when Mcured, i., ordinarily, Jf {» grej ~ value than a few mouthful, of fl„h. Aa 1*^"!" «.cc«rfu diot. at fowl from the gunning-.ttnd I would give much to have the pictSre. nfw"o V t r. Z' ' ■ •''''','"«' ^°! ""4 ■»«'»0'y. Would It not be wise policy to interew our boys in NaturJ- .tudy and the camera a. applied to it,'^.nd di.co"^ age .hooting at living thing,? Real acquaintance with a h.rmle« and beautiSl wild creatre T^T .^, make, one le« and le» di.po«d to ukel^^ Hence I would most cordially commend to mv me„7 TnTn'" ^^ '"'f' ?ver.%hi. noble i„°tr7 ment. An expensive outfit is entirely unnecessary In case my own experience may be of any ^^ouT agement. let me say that all my pictu% i^ thil ^?^'a "P"*. "='^''''°"-- lens, and bellows of ,f nche. draw that cost me less than J20. I consid,^ the 4 by 5 size just right for field work. Cin^ with such a camera and any eood mjk,^ "^"^ plates, with a little carefu/.tfa;' a"d'p'ra«ic?;:^ photographic method, following out some Lh 1°, afield as are described in this and other volunTr omed with real love for the birds and Nature tW^ K no reason why anyone may not succeed l!e,te' Preface Help extend the growing enthiuium for Nitui •tudy. and that the .imple narrative of my peC .ht{;;:f r;?«' ■»"' '"'"- """y '» -"y Wen. I.,„T''°"*'l'"'' *'?"«''«=". •« narrated, have b« largely ,n the northern portion, ot the country 2 Ae'^S"' 'J""' •^"""J' *"" "•« Water-Fowl ^ many of the ,Ilu.tration8 are redSced in size feoi the original photograph,; where there has been ai precuble enlargement, the feet and degree are „ot« Companion, m the field and other friend, hav generously placed at my di.po«.l even more of thei picture, than could be u«d, .upplying ceruin eac «. my material, and 1 wish herewith fo exp^L'^m^ grateful acknowledgment, to Me»r,. A. ?.leni C. S. Day, Owen Durfec. Rev C f V«..« i«/ L. Baily. V H. Fi,her aid H A ShL "*" "^ Herbert K. Job. Kent, Connecticut, March, 190a. ork may Nature- personal >tion of friends, ive been ry, they Fowl of titioned, ' space, se from ccn ap- i noted, ds have jf their in gaps ress my . Bent, »g. W. Job. TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I.-Thi Submircid Tinth Grebei and Loom Amng Colonic, of the American Eared Grebe The Great City of the We«ern Grebe . ' ' * HoIboellV Horned and Pied-billed Grebe. ' ' * ' G^be. B^edin, in the E..t ; their habit, in a„;u.n and winte; Loon, on Sea and Uke . The Breeding-haunt, of the Loon. . . ' PART II.-MoDBRN Clipp.Dwkllers Gannet.. Guillemot.. Auk.. Puffin.. Kittiwake.. etc. GIimp.e. of the Magdalen I.land. The Bird Rock. Second Day on Great Bird Rock Third Day. and the Trip to North Bird Rock Last Observation, on the Rock Further Re.c.rche, on Other I.Iand. of the MagdaJen Group Other Cliff-Dwellcr. Breeding on the Coast of Maine After the Breeding Season ; winter along the coast PART III.-OcEAN Wanderers Shearwaters. Jaegers or Skuas. Petrels. Ph^laropes Summer Ocean Birdi off Cape Cod . Photographing the Ocean Wanderers »*0H 1-14 *7-33 33-39 39-43 43-49 50-Sa >3-64 64-73 73-80 81-83 83-86 86-90 91-96 XI 97-107 107-114 Contents \ PAGBt Jcger Days iij-iao Among the Phalaropes 120-124 The Nesting of the Ocean Wanderers ; visits to the breeding- grounds of Leach's Petrel 124-129 PART IV.— The White-Winged Fleet ^ Gulls and Terns Visits to Herring Gull Islands along the Atlantic Coast . 130-139 Tern Colonies and Habits in the East 139-144 Other Gulls on the Eastern Coasts 144-146 The "Enchanted Isles," North Dakota; colonies of Double- crested Cormorants, Ring-billed Gulls and Common Terns 146-IS7 A Great Colony of the Franklin's Rosy Gull ; breeding and other habits of the Black Tern ; the American White Pelican . 157-169 PART v.— Wild Fowl of Wild Fowl Ducks and Geese A Tour in North Dakota among Breeding Ducks and Geese . 170-189 Breeding of the Later Ducks on the Return Trip . 189-196 Tree-nesting Ducks in North Dakota 196-200 Subsequent Trip to North Dakota, and Further Discoveries . 201-206 The Breeding-Habits of Ducks in the East, from the Magdalen Islands to Southern New England 206-213 Habits of the Wild-Fowl in Southern New England after the Nesting Season ; gunning-stands and the fowl that visit the ponds 213-218 Sea-coast Fowl; habits, modes of capture, migrations . 218-224 xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Franklin's Rosy Gulls in flight. Cover picture. Herring Gull approaching nest (x 2) Mounted Loons and Grebes . American Eared Grebe Colony . Other nests of the Eared Grebes . Franklin's Rosy Gull eating Eared Grebe's Eggs Eared Grebe's by their nests . Nest of Western Grebe . A Western Grebe-colony scene A Western Grebe .... A group of Eared Grebes (x i^) . A Western Grebe (x2) . Another Western Grebe (x 2) Still another Western Grebe (x 3) , Nest of Holboell's Grebe Nest of Pied-billed Grebe, or Dabchick Covered nesi of the Dabchick . Nest and young of Horned Grebe . Nest and eggs of Horned Grebe Floating nest of Loon Nest of Loon on stony shore Site of preceding Loon's nest Nest of Loon out in lake Another view of preceding View of Great Bird Rock Murres and Kittiwakes from the crate The city of the biids View of North Bird Rock from top of Great Bird Rock xiii Frontispiece 2 7 10 14 16 17 19 20 22 23 25 26 28 30 31 34 35 43 45 46 47 48 5° 54 56 57 List or Illustrations Another cliff view .... A group of Gannets Gannet and Murres incubating (x 3) Nesting-site of Razor-billed Auk Eggs of Murres as laid on ledge A Gannet colony ... A Puffin sitting for his portrait (x 4) Another Puffin portrait (x 4) . Razor-billed Auks at close range (x i4) Group of Murres, Puffins and Razor-billed Auk The Pillar, or Pinnacle, North Bird Rock Nest of Gannet, North Bird Rock . An incubating BrUnnich's Murre Common Murres on their eggs (x 3) Kittiwakes nesting (x i^) Gannets, Murres and Kittiwakes on the lower ledges The home of the Ocean Wanderers A pair of Greater Shearwaters Two Greater Shearwaters close to vessel The Greater Shearwaters, a hungry horde Wilson's Petrels, or " Mother Carey's Chicken Sooty and Greater Shearwaters Wing-study of Western Gull . Western Gulls in Flight . Another study of Western Gulls Herring Gulls alighting on trees Nest of Herring Gull Slovenly nest of Common Tern Well-built nest ot Common Tern Nest of Least Tern Nest of Ring-billed Gull . Nests of Double 55. 59. 61, 69, 72, j6, 92, 93, 95 , 177. 189. »9o. 193. 201, 215 82, 166 218, 219 I 218, 220 Cod Coot, American Butter-billed Gray Skunk-head White-winged Cormorant . Common , Double-crested Coyote Crane, Sandhill . Crossbill, White-winged Crow Cuckoo, Black-billed Dabchick, (See Pied-billed Grebe ^ Dog-fish . . _ ^ ^ Dovekie, (See Little Auk) SI 83-84, 86 91 94. 98 2,6, 161, 166, 173, ,7.. 222 222 332 223 83 148-150, 152, J78, 193 I 172 82 87 82 Duck 94 Black, (See Dusky) Dusky Greater Scaup . ^' 2, 4. S. 39. 71. 126, 166, 170-224 zvii 207, 208, 212-213, 215, 223 177. 191. 207, 209, 217 1 Index rAOB 2l8 Duck, Harlequin Lesser Scaup . . ,^j[ .^^.^^^ ;„,_;„ ,^g ^ Long-tailed, (See Oldsquaw) Ring-necked Scaup . . . ,86,191,201,206,2,7 „^^ • • • 177. i9». 194, 196, 202-206, 2,5 Scaup . . ,-.0 S>ea, (See American Eider) Sea Ducks Eider, American . . " ,, ' " * „ *''' "^ • • • 7'. ^9'. 2". 2,8, 22,, 223 2l8 Flicker Gadwall Gannet King 29 . ,72 220-22,, 223 2,8 . ,77-178. 190. i92-»93. 20,-202, 206, 2,5 Godwit, Great Marble^'' ""'°' ';"''' '^' ''' '°' '^-"' ''' «°' ^^ Golden-eye, American ,85, ,97-200, 206, 2 ,0, '2 ,8, Barrow's • . . . Goosander, (See American Merganser) ^'' Canada .' ." [ ' „, \„ ''' ]l°' "^-"'' '" Snowy . »74-i7S, i78-,8o, 20,, 2,4-2,5 Gopher . .' .' ■ .".'■' ''* Grackle, Bronzed . ' ' • • • t Grebe . '9 American Eared' ." .' ' 1-^8 ^r l?l' '^t' '^^ Holboell's . • *-^«' "-". *4, 28, ,77 Homed . =». =«8-3o, 35. 38 Pied-billed . ■ ' ■ •,_ 30-3S. 38-39, 177 Western . [ ] ' ^' ^0-32, 35-37. i73, i77 Grouse, Pinnated . . . ] ' ' ' *7 27, 33 Guillemot, Black o * " ^ G.. ^^«..9.,4..oo;..,i.,;,o;,,,^:;:;7J;-;- Burgomaster, (See GUucus) ' ' "S- '«-4S. ■''■3 Franklin's Glaucus . • • • . 14.157-126 Great Black-backed '. ' ' ' '*"' '+4-^45 Herring ' ' ' " '*^' ^44-i45 * • . . 133-^30, 142, 144-145, 149 "... 144 XVllI Gull, Bonaparte's Laughing . Ikdix Gull, Minister, (See Great BUck-backed) '*" ?T'''"!l - ' ' MS-ISM6M77. 189. .91 Turkey, (See Great Black-backed) Western Haddock ....;;;• '^'-^^a. 13s Hag, or Haglet, (See Shearwater) ^*' ^* Hake Hawk, Marsh ..'.'.**'■ ^*' ^^ Red-tailed ..!!.*.'"''" Sparrow ... • • . 9 Heron, Night . . ^° Jack Rabbit ...'.' .' .'.''' ^*^^"t !ij "M06, 115, ii7-„9 Long-tailed 8 Parasitic . . ' ' ' o ^^ ■D . 118-119 Pomanne, . . , „ ^ Tjj Tjj J , , 100,110,118-110 Jiddy, or Jiddy-hawk, ( See Jaeger) ^ Kingbird Kittiwake . • . . S3, 55, 59. 65. 71-72. 75-77. 79. 80, 94 Lark, Prairie Horned '"ly . v* Longspur ' • • • . i Loon * _ , , 39-40 Red-throated, or Pegging-awl .... VjJZ The, or Great, or Great Northern ... * 2 ^^ Mallard 171. rjj.,j8, ,81, 184-185, 191, 196, 206. 208, 215 Martin, Purple ^ Meadowlark, Western ....''* Merganser, American . . ' ' „ tr . . 210, 218 ^°?^"\- 200,206,210,218 Mink ''^^■^;^^^*^^ • • • -7-208,210,219,221,223 Mother Carey's Chickens, (See Petrel) Murre, 50, 53, 55, 59, 61, 62, 65, 69, 72, 76-77, 80, 86, 92, 94 Briinnich's ... a« a, J Common . . . ' * ^°' ^5, 93. 95-96 Ringed ....';:;: ^[^'H Muskrat .... Noddy, (See Murre) **"'^' ^ X3X Index Old-squaw Oriole Osprey Owl, Long-eared Parrot, Sea, (See Puffin) Pelican, White Petrel Leach's Stormy Wilson's Phalarope Northern Red Wilson's Pigeon, Sea, (See Black Pintail Plover Golden Puffin Rail . . Raven, Northern Redhead . 177, 183 Robin Sandpiper Spotted Sapsucker . Scoter American, or Black Surf White-winged . Sea Goose, (See Phalarope) Sea Hen, (See Jaeger) '"'^Zrs ; : "—■«»:■»'.■-«. —.3, ..,, ., Greater . . * * ' * 102-103 Sooty * ■ »"-^°2, io8-,x2, 115-X16 Shelldrake. or Sheldrak; or ShelWuck.*(See Me^lnse;;'' "'""' Shoveller, or Shoveler ,7. X77. .83. ]ss, ..J^Zl, 206, 2,5 ao6, 217, 219-3,1, jjj • • . . 4 85 82 168-160 101-102, ,04-108, 1,0. ,13, , a, ,,34 '>4, 72-73, 101-102, 104-106, 124-129 • . , 102 101-102, 108, 114, ,17 120-123 iao-132 lao, 122 Guillemot) "° '71, 17S-X78, 189, i9,-,93, 206, 215 84 S3, 59. 60, 66-68, 72, 8,, 89^,] 93,"* ' • • • • 166, 203 187,191,196,202-204,206,211,215 •••.•• 4 120, 134 127 • • , 29 206, 217, 221, 223 222-223 217, 222-223 . 189-195, 201-202, 206, 217 51 185 Index f k Skua, (See Jaeger) Sparrow Savanna . Song White-throated Swallow, Bam Tree Swan . Teal . . ; Blue- winged Green-winged v*g« 65. 84 108 140, t 'a? 30 30 *9» 1*7-128 *9 168 '85> 206. 209 »7i. i77f 180, 182, 185, 191, 209 172, 188, 191 "S-'i7. 130, 135. 140, 144-145 139-142 I, 161, 166-168 H2. 153-156. 162, 189, 191, 208 143-144 143 Tern Arctic Black Common Least Roseate Wilson's, (See Common) Ting-tang, (See Holboell's Grebe) Turnstone .... Yelk wlegs . Warbler, Mourning Water Witch, (See Grebe) Whale, Fin-back . Whale-bird (See Phalarope) .* '* Whistler, (See Golden^ye) "* Widgeon, American, (See Baldpate) Willet ; Woodpecker, Downy '7' Wren, House ^9 • . . 29 *34 134 30 XXI 1 AMONG THE WATER-FOWL THE SUBMERGED TENTH (Grebes and Loons) JHE seventh day of a recent June found me, with a companion, driving over the sun-baked, fire-scorched prairie of North Dakota, within a few miles of the international boundary. For mile* s^wn hi. t P"'""'' ''"' y' o"""™-"! 'he sod and fen« ^o '; " •?""' ""= "K'y ''"''ed wire tence to compel travel "on section lines." Not even , wagon-trail offered its suggestion of a better way. We were free to consult the compass, and lav ZZr '' •'"'"/'? " ^' °'" ">= virgin' prairii^ What had remained just as the Buffalo fad left it ceS ft • '"""^ .""' """""ono"'. there was a «2rr„^ °" '" -""SS'"? "'""g ""^ *is billowy grass m the crisp, stimulating air, with the frequent &? f ^'"^ "'"' '"'""'' «'"«• D"'"" fl«w ou pZ», ; ^"^ «-« depressions. A covey of cock Pinnated Grouse whirred away fr.m a wiedy spot. Meadowlarks, Longspurs, Sparrows or Prairie mack Tern', fl>7'' T''^ "'""^^ '" ^'8*". with liaW. / A "« '''™'- A' ""y "•»= » = were hable to se. a Coyote slinking off in the distance, Kabbit and see it speed away with surprising leaps. Gophers scurried to their burrows, and disappeared with that comical little whisk of the tail that always forces me to an inward smile. ' The S'cmeroed Tenth We were driving from our camp on the wind- •wept p .,„ by Ru.h L.lce .o , .mall lakr or •etUer had told lu .warmed with bird.. At length « ay before u., a third of a mile of open wafer w,th a arge gr«^ i,,„j ;„ ,^^ ^^ f^ ^« "• .We of X •"." ?"*•" T' '" '«•«= """ "" ">« flr^t «■• I J ,'".'' """ '•"« ■""" Wrds-a great flock fairly darkening the area. * thev'^Tlr^'l"* •''1'' '." ''"''*'' *°"' "'« <"«»"« «"« called „ "^^"', """•'y P""-*" "" 'here .b!t. • P™"°""«'' "«loo"-are generally quite denlTK'. K ' ^"r "'•» '■"" "'^ o"* made it\vi! dent tha boots here were of no avail. It wa. pretty cold to strip for the „.k. and the water It monthl 1"' "'VrP'" "f «"ting out in the .un upon the .hore of the ..land before coming back de- cided me m fkvour of the project and I started in «mT7 ''fP, <««'"'"« inc^a-d. The water be! came breast deep, and was filled from bottom to .urfece with defying vegetation. Alter every half t^"..LT,\^'t "L^'-'P "■"* -'«r -ysel/from the great island that had collected about me. For fifteen minute. I struggled on. chilled, but intent upon reaching the sunny island shore, where I co"d t^jt ^r"""' ,'>•''' "P °"' of 'he water, and ~e^ t^finT '"'"" '"' """' "-•^ ""'^^ ' ,h» A' i vT.f 'V*"^ ='*«« °*^ '" "" of long grass that had hidden from me what was beyond. I won- derfu sight met my eyes. The water seemed H.er- ally alive with birds, swimming or floating upon its 3 Among the Water-Fowl surface Sprinkled about everywhere among them were what looked like little mounds. Upon nearly every mound sat a bird. As they saw me, some slid oft into the water, while others industriously pecked at something. Then if dawned upon me— I had found a breeding colony of the American Eared Orebe. The mounds were nests, and the birds were covermg their eggs, as is their custom, to hide them irom the intruder. Soon I was right in the midst of the Grebe city «ut such wet, untidy, uncomfortable homes they were, as contrasted with the warm, soft, downy beds that Ducks prepare, the substantial structure of the Kobin, or the elaborately-woven pouch of the Oriole ! I felt that I was in the slums of bird-dom. Here was the problem of the submerged class of their society. But who. after all, would be the happier should the Grebe ascend from the bottom round of the ladder of classification, and, forsaking his fish relations and his habits of submergence, make a cleaner nest ashore, and waddle awkwardly on dry land? ^ At my approach the Grebes all left their nests, though in some cases the anxious owners lingered to cover their treasures until I was almost upon them. This enabled me to watch carefully the whole process. The bird arose from a prostrate position upon the eggs, and assumed one more or less upright, squatting upon the rump, to one side ot the eggs. Reaching over, she seized with the bill a piece of floating grass close at hand, and laid It across them. Sometimes she would fish out quite a bunch at one haul. If possible, she kept at it 4 The Submeuoed Tenth until the eggs were entirely hidden, when she would slide off into the water with a push of the feet that gave quite a little momentum. Some of them dove at once and came up a short distance awav, while others remained on tic surface. The fact of mv having only head and should, rs out of water evi- dently made tnem less afraid ( : me than thev would have been had I bre.n in a boat. The birds were more or less scattered about in the lake, vet groups ot them remained within a few feet of me, appar- entlv trying to make out what new species of Musk- rat this could be. I should judge that there must have been up- wards of a hundred nests right around me, and how many more there were off in the grass I cannot say. (certainly ,t was a large colony, for the whole slough ^emed alive with Grebes, and all of the one species. 1 he nests were floating quite close together, often touching one another. There was very little grass growing out of the water, and the nests were not anchored except as they rested more or less on the floating debris. This held them in a measure, but it seemed likely that a strong wind might drive them from their location. Most of the nests were covered, and I bobbed about among them, removing the coverings to see how many eggs there were. It was evident that the laying operations of the colony were not complete, for some of the nests were empty, or had but a single egg. Only two that I saw had as many as five eggs, three or four being the usual number. ° These observations made, I stayed for nothing further; indeed haste was necessary, for my sunny s Among the Water-Fowl isle, whereon I had hoped to warm myself, proved to be a delusion; and I realized that submersion did not make me a Grebe, for I was already shud- dermg with the cold. So, hurriedly placing a few sets of eggs in the creel that I had dragged out over the water, I reluctantly returned from my bird- slumland, and made for the shore, which I finally reached, shivering and shuddering, after being three- quarters of an hour in the icy water. Though it was an uncomfortable experience, I was more than repaid by what I had seen. My one sorrow was that It was impracticable to use the camera. Rush Lake is an area some twelve miles long and four wide, with water only waist deep, out of which grows long grass and occasional patches of tall rushes. Years ago, it is said to have been entirely open, but now even an ppen lane is a rarity. A settler piloted us to it the first day. After walking a mile or more, he suddenly announced — " Well here we are." « But where is the lake," I asked] looking perplexedly over the grassy plain? "This is it, right before you," was the reply. My first feeling was of great disappointment, but as Ducks of all sorts began to fly out in squadrons along the margin, I was soon reassured. The day after the Grebe colony incident, I spent the morning alone near the west end of Rush Lake, if end, indeed, there was, my friend agreeing to drive the team up for me after dinner. In time, I waded out to quite an open lead of water, adjoining which many Coots had their nests in the grass. Over near the other side were fifty or more Eared Grebes swimming about, evidently another colony. 6 Among the Water-Fowl This time I was determined not to be thwarted. S6, when my companion appeared, we drove back, hitched the bow of a canoe to the back of the wagon and, after dragging it more than a mile over rough, wet ground, I managed to get afloat in it with camera and all needed apparatus. As I came within sight of the Grebes, they sank like stones, a submerged company indeed, for I saw them no more, save for an occasional head thrust momentarily out of the water to reconnoitre. One of them I saw swim under the boat, only a little way below the surface. It used wings and feet as oars, and was indeed flying through the water. But what of the nests? Not one could I find, though I explored the edges of the open water all around, and penetrated into the grass in every direction. No photographs of Grebe colonies was it that season ,my lot to take. But the time came when this ambition was grati- fied. Late last June I was encamped, with three companions, upon the timbered shore of another large Dakota lake. One morning, we were poling a heavy boat, the only one available, through a maze of grass growing out of four feet of water, far out from shore. Another push, and we glided to a partial opening, where a wonderful sight greeted us. We had run with our boat almost into a large colony of American Eared Grebes, sur- prising the birds right upon their nests. Perhaps they had heard enough to arouse their suspicions, for they were in the act of covering their eggs. But no sooner did they see our heads over the grass than there was a general plunge, which sounded like the beating of a rain-squall as it first strikes a body of H The Submerged Tenth Here were the slums of a larger Grebe city than I had seen before, and this time I was in bet 2 co„- the litJ^e "r m"- H^^'r ""' °™^ » huldrerof area and li "'*'' u '""= '"S"''" '" « =<»npact tbr k u ''n°»"ng how many more further in hrough the grass. I did not like to push the bo« n, as ,t would involve the overturning^nd d^truC .on of a great many nests, so was content S a ^u7^T ,^"P"fi"»l examination of the edonv The b,rds had been able in every case to tver he^ egg betore retreating. Pulling off the layer of we debr, from a number of the nearer nests,' we ^0™] largest five""oth""'" "' ""^ ''^' was 'three the Then as we looked off, we saw, some distance h"irflor„ °'^" ""r"^ ^'"'"g - sanding upon heir floatmg nests, and realized that what we were mspecting was only the suburbs of the r^l dtv Toward this we directed the boat. The Grebes' were'stniTTv' ^"'5'"'° "'^ ^'^ -^ile we paddled *L"far: L^'^"' ZT'T caUed .t, divided the city into an east and west side On the "east side," along the edge of rt^L „f s tar. "'Tmrtf £- - «;^ ^«?' water. Conditions here, as might be expected, were 9 ?0 The Submerged Tenth simply scandalous. Eggs lay rotting in the watery streets, in one spot as many as fifteen together, the result, probably, either of a storm or a squabble. Debris of all sorts was strewn around with utter in- difference tc the public health. The houses were low, untidy affairs, reeking with water and decay huddled together in hopeless confusion. So unstable IS their foundation that quite a mass of them had drifted off in some storm, and were scattered about overgrown with green scum, the eggs washed and bleached by the overlapping water. Conditions on the "west side" were hardly better. The congestion was even worse. Nests in close contact formed a considerable area, extending in through the sparse grass to some more open water. It seems to me that the nests in these Grebe cities are smaller and more slovenly built than where a pair build a solitary nest. The wonder is how such flimsy affairs can keep the eggs and the in- cubating birds above water. The husband evi- dently has to lead a street life, with little to occupy him except to pick up food, and receive the youngsters, which hatch one by one, and swim off as soon as they are born. Perhaps he may antici- pate the mother's task, and ride the little waifs around on his back. When at last we retired with the boat, the Grebes swam back. Some resumed incubation, while others in parties promenaded up and down "Broadway," in some cases taking their children, that had been hiding away in the grass, out for a ride. It was an odd sight to see the crop of little heads sticking out from under the parent's wing. II li! Among the Water-Fowl Before leaving, I found it easy to photograph these areas of nests from the boat by snap-shots, but a very different matter to have any of the Grebes in the pictures, as they were quite shy of the boat. Finding that they would not come near enough for a snap- shot, I stood up an old tripod, with a focus cloth over the top, in the grass a little back from the "east side," leaving it for the birds to become accustomed to the sight. Next day, the wind was ragmg, and my companions did not think I could carry out my plan of getting out there alone in the boat to spend the day by the colony. After a long, desperate effort I managed to reach it. The birds' were mostly on their nests, ignoring the tripod. The pathway to success now seemed easy ; but thorny did it prove. Moving the tripod a little nearer to the nests, I adjusted the camera, attached the spool of thread, and allowed the boat to drift off to leeward, paying out the line. So busy was I that I had not noticed a gathering squall, that just at this untimely juncture struck down with furious blast. The shutter was sprung, and I had to lose the end of the thread, not being able to check the progress or the boat in time. As it was, the camera was nearly pulled or blown over into the water. Nothing but the fact that I had spliced poles to the legs of the tripod and driven them firmly into the mud pre- vented what would have been to me out there in the wilderness an irreparable disaster. Then ensued a mighty struggle to get back to the camera to pro- tect It from the rain. It was almost impossible for one person alone to push that clumsy boat through the tangle of grass and slime against the wind, but I 12 The Submerged Tenth finally accomplished it, pulled the precious instru- men on board, covered it with the rubber cloth and let the rain beat down. After the shower had passed, I proceeded to arrange the camera again. Learning wisdom by experience, I pushed the boat across to the opposite side of the area of grass where the nests were-a distance of about the length of my thread^planted a pole firmly in the nmddy bottom, tied the thread to It, and then pc led back to the camera with the other end of the thread, which I fastened to the shutter. In this way there was less danger of pull- ing the thread prematurely, or of getting it en- tangled in the grass. Then I rowed around to the po e by way of the open water, tied the boat to the pole, and lay down on the bottom, thread in hand to await developments. ' ho.t^^''"" "^^n^ ^ "^^"^^ *^^ ^^•^^^^ began to swim back in sma 1 parties, and promenade up and down Broadway Two of them approached their nests, and climbed up awkwardly upon them. Theii^ purpose was to cover their eggs more perfectly than in their haste they had done when the boat was approaching. As soon as this had been accom- plished, they slid off into the water and rejoined their companions. Unfortunately they were not quite in the range of the camera, so I lost a splendid chance for an interesting picture. I thought that m the course of things they would all go back but time passed, and not another one did so. Finally I rowed over there and uncovered some of the e/es hoping that this would induce the owners to come and cover them. »? Among the VV^ater-Fowl Though I did not succeed in this, the effort was not wholly in vain, for through it I learned the reason for this habit. This breeding colony of the Eared Grebes closely adjoined a fa- larger one of thousands of the Franklin's Rosy Gull. Hardly A FRANKLINS ROSV GULL EATING EGGS OK EARED GREBE. ON "EAST SIDE." THE OWNER WATCHING. had I returned to my anchorage, when a Gull alit upon one of the nests which I had uncovered, and proceeded to pierce the eggs with its bill and devour the contents. I pulled the string and exposed a plate upon this interesting procedure. The picture >4 The Submerged Tenth shows the Gull with its bill thrust down into an egg, and a single Grebe in the water ji st beyond watching attentively what was probably the spolia- tion of its home. Perhaps it was fear of the camera that prevented the naturally expected attack upon the marauder. Another plate had then to be inserted, which I finally exposed when a party of Grebes were swimming by, just in front of the nests. These were the only two pictures secured in the greater part of a day of hard labour and nerve-wearing toil. After this the thread became almost hopelessly tangled, and, despite long, exasperating efl=brt, I got only another fogged plate at about sundown. And It was the last chance, too. Then, as I was taKing up the camera, at eight o'clock and after, it dawned upon me that I had forgotten to eat my t^l'"* ^*^o"gh I had it with me in the boat. When I returned to camp almost at dark, the com- pany made merry over a fellow so much interested in birds that he needed a caretaker to remind him when he must eat. « A veritable rustic," perhaps the Grebes had been saying, staring all day, open- mouthed and absent-minded, at the sights of their great city. W?thin ten mfles of this spot was another equally interesting, though very different Grebe-city Extending far out from the shore, in water waist deep or more, grew a great area of canes, ten or twelve feet high. To get at it from where we had pitched our tent, I had first to wade across an arm •5 l6 The Submkrokd Tenth of the lake, shoulder deep. Then, after walkinjf a mile along the shore of the lake, clad • i a suit of underwear for protection against an aboundinir poisonous water-plant, I forced my wr ; in through the thicket ot canes. About a hundred yards from the shore I entered the suburbs of the city in- habited by the Western Grebe— a great loon-iikc ONE OF THt MA.NV NESTS OF THE WESTERN GKEBK creature, the largest species of the order—and the Eared Grebe. In the shadow of the tall canes I seemed to be in some sort of a submerged tropical torest. The leaves of the canes were thicker towards the top, while lower down the stems were bare, like miniature palm-trunks, through which one could see only for a few feet. In this shady retreat, floating between the stems, M^re the nests of the Grebes, on the average about two yards apart. »7 r ■■H Among the Water-Fowl As I slowly waded along. I could hear a constant birds dove from their nests to swim off under water. return LTif\ '°' ' ^^" "^°"^^"^«' ^^^^ --^ return and suddenly emerge, sometimes within a LnahV "'^''"^^'^^^""Se again the instant they caught sight of the intruder. ^ These grebe-homes, especially of the larger species, were quite substantial affairs. Even The ittle "Eared" fellows made better nests than in P ?^r'u"^ ""^^'^ ^^^y ^^'■^ «° ^"ddled together Po^ib y they were trying not to be outdone by the Westerners " or else the latter, who were in the wXn'^h rT'^ ?"''^^" ^"^^^^"g regulations within the city hmits! Yet, though the homes were larger, it was evident that they belonged to the lower classes of bird society. This city, like deL°l i' r «^^."^^^""y. dirty. Eggs and even tts TK ^Z '°"'"^ ^" '^' water between the nests. The odour was so unpleasant as almost to nauseate our guide, who afterwards ventured in with ^e. As for myself, I was so much taken up with the novelty of the situation that the « mind^ cure effectually performed its work. How far the city extended, and what was its population, I made no great effort to ascertain, as r u ^ wu '^^ ^t^'^^ °^ ^'""Sr^ ^^ very dif- ficult Wherever I went there were nests, acres and acres of them. In parts of the town the larger species dwelt alone; in others the nests of the two kinds were intermingled in about equal numbers. nfLZu^^' ^"^ 'r ' T"^ complement in the nests ot both species, often four, but more than that I did i8 »9 i:l A WESTERN GREBE IN A "CITY PARK' ao The Submerged Tei- ;vTH not discover, except where a Grebe of either kind had la,d .„ a „est of the other. It would be inter- esting to Icnow what is the state of mind that causes various species of birds that colonic together to lay in each other's nests. It may be through mistalce^ yet as in the present case, when the eigs of one kind are twice the size of the other, it seems a^ fhough the bird would detect the diffe/ence T c^ II!IX"'« T '?' f *" ''""''' ">« 'he little Grebe might find the larger nest attractive, but not so readily what the big Grebe thinks as' it finds the rd^^^hf*'' '' ''^ --•'«'''"''- -''•■'« There were no street-signs in the citv anH though city bred I found m/self rustic enoilght ^Cn K^Tf u °^ P"^"^ ^°^^ ^" ^^« coiymbine (Colymbus) labyrinths. As lucJc would have it the usual daily June thunder-shower (of this seLnt came up before I w.s half through Ly IxploS Covermg the camera and plates with the rubb"; cloth, my upper half was soon as wet as the rest. For a considerable time the sun was obscured 1 here was no way of looking over the tops of the canes to note the direction of the shore, and I might have wandered about there indefinitely, had not the welcome sun again shone forth. Next time I brought a compass, and felt more secure Here and there in this city were pond-like openings in the canes, with open water, the cit^ parks. I called them-br.athing-places' for th^ Grebe-multitudes Standing in water waist-deep or more by one of these, I shivered and watched the -ays of the Grebes. This opening was some thirty 21 NOW AND THEN A SMALL GROUP OF THE EARED GREBES WOULD PADDLE ACROSS THE OPENING ' 22 } t- 111 Hi (1 Among the Water-Fowl fett in diameter, and was surrounded by nests in the adjacent canes. The owners had been frightened away, but, as I stood quietly, they would emerge from the open water as a convenient place for more extended observation, take a look at me, and then dive. I found that by standing back a little in the canes they did not notice me so much, and, some- what reassured, would promenade across the park back and forth. Now and then, a small group of the Eared Grebes would swim out from the reeds gaze around, and paddle across the opening. One ot these Grebes brought out a chick for a ride The little one was under the parent's wing, only its head sticking out, seemingly having a fine time. Then one of the great Western Grebes would break water, and swim with only its long slender white neck out, and the merest s4ggestion of a back, look- ing more like a water-snake than a bird. Here was an opportunity for Grebe-photography which I eagerly improved. Planting the tripod at the edge ot the canes, I arranged the camera, using the amphscope lens to secure a larger imagef and focused on the further side of the park, where most ot the Grebes appeared. Then, with a thread attached to the shutter, I retired a few paces, and took snaps at various Grebes of both sorts till gathering clouds compelled me to desist. I had been wondering what was the cause of the evident destruction of life in the Grebe-city As I stood there motionless in the canes, a partial solu- tion was suggested. A nest of the Western Grebe with one egg lay almost within arm's reach. Sud- denly a large Muskrat emerged close by, and 24 ANOTHER WESTERN GREBE 25 STILL ANOTHER WESTERN GREBE 26 The Submerged Tenth crawled out upon the nest. First he glanced around, and though looking right at me. did not seem either to perceive or to care— I could not tell which Next he smelled the egg all over, poking it with his nose. I thought I would now catch him red- handed. But either the animal was looking for something else, or scented danger, for directly he ambled down to the water's edge and plunged. Muskrat houses were numerous, and it is hard not to suspect the occupants of enjoying something more than a vegetable diet. If guilty, however. Minks may also have a share in shedding Grebe-blood. By this time I was chilled and shivering, so began the retreat, and, after two hours and a half of exposure, was glad to set foot on dry land The Grebes had a splendid city, no doubt, according to their ideas, but I did not envy them at all their happy, slovenly ways, or their wet civic prosperity. Another interesting jaunt was into the Turtle Mountain country, the wooded area of Dakota some two thousand square miles of low, rolling* rocky hills, covered with a growth largely of poplar. Every hollow between these hills is occu- pied by a lake, varying in size from '« Fish Lake " in the interior, a number of miles in length, down to little ponds of a few acres. They are entirely different from the marshy, shallow prairie lakes, or sloughs, being clear and deep, with pebbly bottoms, though there are a very few that resemble the sloughs. The woods grow nearly or quite to the water's edge, and there is a border of round- 37 Among the Water-Fowl stemmed reeds for a few yards out. They are much like the typical New England pond, and. like them, have— comparatively — ^few water-fowl. There are some, however, and one of the most characteristic I found to be the large Holbocll's Grebe, the only Grebe, in Act, that I saw in the region. I met them only in solitary pairs, nesting in the outer edge of the reeds on the shores of the ponds. One of the first birds that I noticed as we drove in from the prairie waa one of these Grebes swim- ming in a criall pond near some reedy clumps. Next day I walked back there. The bird ^.. was on guard, and Its mate swam out from the reeds at my approach. There was the nest amid the reeds in about three feet of water, a large floating pile of wet, decayed stems. The five dirty white eggs, as large again as those of the Eared Grebe, weFe covered. With some drift-wood I managed to arrange a stand- ing place from which I photographed the nest. Usually but one pair was found in a small pond, and when, in the larger ones, there were several, 28 NB8T OF HOLBOBLL's ORBBB The Submerged Tenth ^?/i!![°k" j" *•? ""y •"" «°K"''er. The habit of the bird, on the.e dear lake, of patrolline n«r the nest render, this very ea.y to find I liki^^^ «.nd .till nearly hiddenln tfaVreeitani ^ th^ L",W .'"""fi ='°" •°«"'«^' «'■<•« in " ""r ,0 moton Th '' T 'T^ ''"•" "^ P'-^'ge and motion The red patch™ on the ride, of the Deck for y glowed in the .un. a. though they m'rfu e-Iy do the „n,e at night of theif own ^^dfalfce During my ,tay ,n the Turtle Mounttin. I found .everal „e.t. of the Holboeli", Grebe. On' .w°L "IT ^'u """"'">' '"'"«"• J 'a" "•« bird «wim out from the reed., a. u.ual, and riirht there rih^thTof""!; *r/««' "■" ** •- «g-"" nan, L J / * ■''"'''"' '««' '^^' ywWul occu- pant had evidently ju.t emerged, and there it wa. in the water, trying to follow ifii mother. I waded cfr;«-j *u- , * P'^*^« »t up, a curious tiecr- stnpcd thing, 80 long and slim that it reminded mc the IZ ^^'" ^ '^P^^^^^ ^' ^" '^« "-^' but al the hrst opportunity it scrambled out, and dis- appeared among the reeds. In two of the eggs I could hear the young chirping ^^ turnLT.V^'^^ u ."^""P ^°'' ^^""«''' ^"^ ^hen re- lated the h 1 "^'- "^^ '^^ ^^y I »"^^^i- gated the home of some Purple Martins in a lltn t^'' r^\ "P ^ ''^^* «»^PP«^ poplar tub finding, after a hard struggle, that the ncit contained Bron'^f r^M nr? ^^^" ^"^ Tree Swallowt Bronzed Crackles, Flickers, Downy Woodpeckers Sapsuckprs, House Wrens and Red-tailed Hawks I ^9 Among the Water-Fowl White-throated Sparrowf Monmln. w' u? * *"'' doubtle« other .m^all bS, .prin'Si^ v"' '"'' of the Grebe.' era I faa^J^Uju "i . ^^ "°™ loo» egg-hen. *i:VeZi'.^'ii:'!K''"'' •»" ""« ■ nc«t, floating among the reeds, whither the old bird, no doubt, had carried it. This large Grebe seems not very common in Dakota, though I met it sparingly in the larger fresh water lakes. But . ^^^^^^^ everywhere in the KK8T O, PUU-BRLBD OREBK. NO.tI^I™ P**^*"« SloUghs familiar Pied-billed on^ u one meets the the Eared. I d d not find^h"'"^ ^'^^^^' ^' ^«" ^ but each pair ne^tin^hv . u*" ^"' '^° ^" ^«^°"i««. the deep^t ^ae^ V^ h ' "'"""^ ^*^" «"' '" slough L a boTthat^'^Ldl Jrj^^^ ^^^^ pose, when I came upon a smaf, rrj^ ^' '^' P"'" one ^gg, out in nea^V L ^^^ "**' ^»th few stems of g ass Q^uit/'" ^''''' """^^^^^ ^° ^ Grebe that pUrbly^TthTow'ner ^h"°^"1 was violent, and the waves wL k V- ^^^ '^'"** -a„theti„e. P^orb^h^r;^ C'bl' The Submerged Tenth washed out, for it wu !■»#> in ♦i. nearly ... /„. of ;:„■:. '"^i?. t.r?vr7''7 H^orTr- ^- *• G""* will ;7 , ANOTH.. PUMIllEO 0>BB<'. Kin WITH1» TT™^^^^^ BY A. C. BENT progress was altogether pleasine to the ofK-.. • the urvivrng egg wa. much cleaner than usual nests of the smaller r.v^.bes. Seldom, exceot in colonies, have I been able to see a Grebe acLv on the nest. A very common and wdUwJ 3» Among the Water-Fowl habit of theirs is, on v^^arm days, to cover the eees with wet debris, and leave them for the sun, and the heat generated by the decaying vegetation, to act upon. And it is remarkable how generally they hatch. But it is not true of any species that they never incubate on warm days. In one instance I saw a Horned Grebe on its nest in earlv afternoon. Many a time I have come upon single nests whose eggs were uncovered and very warm. There is almost invariably, in such cases, a protecting screen ot rushes, and the bird evidently has just slipped off before being seen. However, in one way or other the owner of the nest is almost sure to be out of sight when the observer approaches. Sometimes the three smaller kinds all nest intermingled in one slough, and then the confusion is nearly hopeless The only way to identify* them is to hide some distance away and watch. After a time one or both owners may appear, and, by patrolling near the nest, show their interest and decide the ownership. If the number of eggs .s large, they are quite apt to belong to the Dabchick, as they probably do anyhow, if the locality is in the eastern United btates. Still, I have known the Horned Grebe to lay as many as seven. Last summer I was in a slough where the Dabchick abounded, and I found the largest Grebe-set in my experience—of nine eggs. Five or six seems to be the usual number for that species to lay, four or five for the Horned, and three or four for tne others. The time was when I supposed that Grebes were very silent creatures. But camping by a little ^2 The Submerged Tenth open lake which was frequented by a pair of Horned Grebes, I was able to trace to their author- ship certain loud cries of whose origin I had been uncertain. The sounds began as a quick chatter ending with several prolonged notes that I can only describe as yells. They seemed to keep up this noise all night, for I often lay awake listening to it not disturbed, but thoroughly enjoying it, thinking how fortunate I was to be living in such good com- pany! By day, when the water was calm, I could see flocks of Grebes out on the larger lake near by and hear from them the same or similar quavering* First one would cry out, then another would take up the strain, and still others, until there was noise enough for the most ardent lover of bird-choruses. And no less pecliar are the cries of the big Western Grebe, v. aich I heard on all sides as I waded about through their colony in the canes They are utterly different from the notes just de- scribed—a shrill, grating trill, not nearly so loud, with a metallic quality, all in one key, like an anvil chorus, or even the tinkle of a small alarm clock. My experiences with Grebes in the East have been of a very different order from those of the prairie sloughs of the West. Here I have known them largely as migrants, or winterers on our bleak coast. The exception to this was a delightful sojourn among the Horned Grebes in their summer haunts on the Magdalen Islands, in the ponds near *'East Point" which Audubon refers to in his 1 u The Submerged Tenth Journals. Here they were the only Grebe anrf nested abundantly, one pair to each^f the ,ittie ponds, and several each to the larger ones build n» floanng nests out in the reeds,^ as us""al T^hf Dabchick also nests in the East-from New England northward It rarely, however, remains as &r fouth as Ma^achusetts or Connecticut, so I have had o awaum advent in September to our retired ponds .■..ST O, HORN.D OH.,,. 1,»00ALE» ,SLA»05 By October, the Horned Grebe, looking utterly wi h tl'' :'h ^«"r °^">e sloughs-as l^C7^ with he other Grebes as well— appears in the hT '?r" A""* °° ">« -'"^. followedVL larger Holboell's Grebe. But none of them are more picturesque to me than the little brown DabcWck I a^oc.ate ,t w,th a lonely pond, in the crisp arof October, surrounded by forests made gorgeous by « Among the Water-Fowl the touch of th^ frost. There near the shore the curious creature glides about among the lily-pads, dabbhng ,n the water, and gatherhig food as it goes. Then it pauses, and rests quietly on the gl^y surfece, glancing around to see if all is well and after about a minute rises not far away. Then ! X /*" °^*'' °" "f "^^^ ^"** P^^^" i^ ^««^hers, the hght glancing resplendent from its white, silkv under parts. * " The Dabchick, as are other Grebes is a masterly diver, skilled in eluding the shots of the hunter. Other birds might well aspire to unfte their fortune with those of « the submerged tenth " T!.U^^ thereby secure that immunity from harm that the power of divmg would make their lot. As cabinet, I felt like a veritable hero. It is laughable to me now how one day I stood on the shore of a pond near Boston and fired a whole pocketful of cartridges at an inoffensive Grebe a few yards away JIIK^ V "V/""^ ^'"^ J° say-harming it in the least. It would rest quietly on the water, all alert never turning^ even for an instant, its bright eyei from me. The moment I pulled the trigger it would plunge quick as thought, reappearing in a few seconds, I could imagine, with a mocking smile ^n 1 '° 1^- T"- J' ''''''^''^ '^ fi"d '"ore sporJ in the affair than the excited hunter. Nowadays I am plotting, not to destroy the innocent things, but to trick them to pose before the camera. I thoroughly enjoy cruising about in a sail-boat on a bright day with a good breeze in late fell on J6 The Submerged Tenth beautiful Assowompsett, in tlie largest lake in HoTh r't ^'"^y "'""y^ I"» find the ally the larger species, though the latter here pre- fers salt water The Grebes usually migrate 7n fn°a?:rr"'""" Dabchick, but on afighting m a lake they scatter about searching for food So . as I mn out on the first tack, I am fpt soon to see a sohtary Grebe of some sort, paddling about Pretending not to see it, I work the boat well to serves to hide me, bound along at a rapid rate almost directly toward the bird. The aZoachS » sudden that the Water-witch seeni'^for the moment to lose its self-possession, and swimi iim one way and then the other. And now weTre so »m«hi" '^^ °"^/ '" '^'S'" ^"^ 'hat it mu" do something «, ,, does what is most natural, dives Instantly I lufF the boat, and as likely as Jt Te bird will soon emerge almost alongside, thinkine to have come up 6r behind the moving b^at. Hafd v are Its eyes above water than it sees me, and S again so quickly that often I only hear the sS ThisT '^' '"'Jl °^^^' ^''" "''-= '' went down. This tmie It will swim a long way, raising only i,^ bdl now and then above the water for a breath o^ ^f 'arotLrbiJd' """ °'"'''°'= '"» --' » --" be ™»l",*'''ii" "'i?>'' '*"= ^"^ '»" sometimes a^r H ^- ^^' ""' ^ " «--y ™'e"aining J^ \ ^T"^ "■■'' ™'" '^'"S*- " i* hard for it to get out of the water, though, when once started i^ flies easily and swiftly, with rapid beats of the J7 Amono the Water-Fowi ftliSn/*!*"' "l" ^ *'"« 8o« pattering ,„d fluttering aJong the surfece, often to &II in Lin exhausted by the eflx.rt. In thi. ca«, dter a br ef rest «v.mm,ng a little for a start, it miy try ara^ or else g.ve up and dive. It is especiilyl,'ffo; Sne"™!? '^•T "."«'• r"' ""h breaking chop One mid-w.nter day off Chatham. Mass., with an faster y w.nd and breaiting sea that hurled the fish- Z '^I r*"**' "« o^Aauled a Horned Grebe that made desperate efforts to fly. Rising, „ do all wat^-fowl, toward the wind, i^ would fimost ge under way when a brealcing surge would insultinfly water. One large wave feirly flung it backward making the poor thing fall all in f hea^ Wth ^Ti PT'^T"^ '" '"''^ *"" °' »« «™«. when the boat had come so close that imminent danger compelled „ to abandon the fruitless attempt a^,fd Ae Holboells, remam all winter on the New fXt.Tl' T-^'" "" 'P™8 visit the ponds agam, the larger kmd as soon as the ice is eone in March. Both of these follow the coastS' n ine Une >^ff ? T' '• "" ""^"'"^ '" " " »<>'- Inii ^ "'""^ " *'^' 'o™ saw to the north a rapidly approaching file of small, white- winged fowl. As they passed close to my boat « the rate of over a mile a minute, I sent two shots singing after them. One bird Irft the C and went ncochetting over the water for m J a' r«'■ »■"» f«t extended rudder- like behind, rapidly advancing, a hundred feet above the water, straight toward the boat. If thev them' °V^%"1 ^'' *■" ' ''"« "° "•«'« '° hur^ them. Bu ,f they swerv- and cros the line at another point, the peal of guns will ring out, and 40 The Submerged Tenth Ta f h ^^\1 °^ '^"^ ^°°"« ^»" <^^ its flight and fall to the water with tremendous force, whUc the survivors keep steadily on their way. Lying there in the stern of the dory, tossed by the waves, and not over warm, it must be confessed, for hours I watch the Loons and other fowl come NnS' ^r''"''''T' '' r '^^ ^'S fellow, the Great ^st all trace of its summer redness. The shoe- maker gunners have nicknamed it "the Pegging-awl Loon, from ,ts slender, sharp bill. ThLrh smaller than the great Loon, it is still a big bird The former can laugh loud enough in its summer home on the lakes, but in the autumn flight, atTny rate, I thmk ,t is outdone by the « Pegling-awl'^ The latter goes farther to the north to^ffitlian Zrr- y' "f '^^' '' ^«^^^Pondingly noisy, the Arctic solitudes where it is found must be far fron^ nrnhll'^'' ^"^ ^ ^^['.^y ^°°^ flight-day. Loons will probably pass withm sight every ten minutes at least. Sometimes from three to six will follow ?^rr r'^T*''^'^' "P""' ^' '^^^^g"^^^' intervals. Just as often they travel singly. If there is any t^TT '\'^" ^."""^ ^^^^^« °^ '^' '^o kinds, I think that the "Pegging-awl "is the more apt to may award him the palm for sociability. But that they are both good company, I can testify. In the calm of the early morning very likely there n^I be one or two large Loons riding over the swells, diving now s:nd then after their finny 41 Among the Water-Fowl breakfast. Like as not some greenhorn gunner will row after them; but I never saw a Loon thus caught. It may let him approach nearly within gunshot, when it will quietly sink out of sight, and after some moments rise quite a distance off. After a few repetitions of this it will dive, to be seen no more. If there is a strong wind, and the sea or lake is rough, I have found it not so difficult to approach them, especially in a sail-boat. Well do I re- member, sailing in a catboat on Lake Assowompsett one cloudy, blustering November day when the chop was considerable, how we suddenly almost ran down a Red-throated Loon. The bird was so startled that it lost its presence of mind, and instead of diving, flew. The boat was going directly before the wind, 'so the Loon had to rise directly toward the boat, almost striking the sail, and going so low over the deck that the possibility was suggested of seizing one of the dangling legs. Usually, though, a Loon can seldom be forced to fly, even when it has very limited space for diving. Here is a typical instance to the point One perfectly calm day in October a friend and myself noticed a large Loon out on Lake Nippe- nickett, and we decided to give it a chase, and see how It would act. We soon found that its main plan was to keep out in the widest part of the lake and avoid being driven in to the shore. It varied Its tactics, too, apparently with the direct intention of deceiving us. Sometimes, after diving, it would emerge straight beyond us, sometimes off to one 42 n The Submerged Tenth side, or even behind us. having swum toward us "^nd gone under the boat. Once, when we suc- ceeded in driving it into a cove, finding itself close to shore, it turned, and. swimming under us, was out in the open water again, ready for FLOATING NEST OF GREAT LOON. NEAR SHORE C. POND. MAINE. BY A. C. BENT another chase. Sagacious bird !— who ever invented that phrase « crazy as a loon ?" The only excuse IS that the bird's notes resemble wild laughter TT .^^^^'"^" Loon is not known to nest in the United States but in many places along our northern border the larger one makes its summer home on the wild lakes. In northern New 4? Among the Water-Fowl England it is common, and now and then it breeds as far south as Massachusetts. Sailing about in Buzzards Bay early one July. I passed a Loon along the Falmouth shore, that was swimming with a half-grown young one close beside her. She seemed very fond of it, and kept caressing it with her bill with true maternal tenderness. Far was it from my thought to disturb them, and our sloop sped on. ^ Of all the places where I have observed the great Loon in its haunts, give me the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota. On those frosty nights of middle June, as we lay under our light cotton tent, snuggled up in heavy blankets, often when I was awake I could hear that wild, laughter- like cry— «ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-a-a"— as the Loons flew over from one lake to another. Our camp was near Gordon Lake, a fine body of water several miles around, with stony shores and a border of reeds. Out on its surface were always a number of Loons, and over on the west side several seemed to be patrolling parts of the shore. Walking entirely around the lake, I vainly searched the whole margin for nests. I had reason to believe that the young were hatched, and, as there were no muskrat houses or floating mounds that I could discover, it IS likely that the eggs were laid on the bare shore, so that no nest was then in evidence. In one place I surmised that the young were hidden among the reeds. There the parents gave me a most interesting spectacle. The pair were patrolling, rather anxiously, about a gunshot ofl^ shore. Knowing of the curiosity of the Loon, I 44 The Submeruko Tenth kept low in the reeds, and now and then waved my handkerchief above them. The Loons at once began to watch, and then gradually to swim in, until they were within twentv vards of me. They swam back and forth in front' of me, keeping close together, their snowy breasts and steel-blue necks ANOTHER NEST OF THE GREAT LOON ON DRV STONY SHORE OF SMALL ISLAND IN LAKE— UAINE BY A. C. BENT reflected upon the mirror-surfece, just beyond the reflection of the reeds and of the poplar forest. It was one of the memorable bird-sights of my life. Anxious as I was to see the nest of the Loon the account given by a settler of a small lake two miles beyond the camp, where a pair of Loons were always to be seen, aroused mv enthusiasm. The next day, June 1 5, was ushered in by a furious 45 1 l-N U ■»•'■ .' Among the Water-Fowl easterly storm, the rain descending in a perfect deluge, beating and driving, threatening to drown Lof A "'k? • u^"' ^"^ ^" '^^^ I d-n-d water- proof and rubber-boots, and started for the new r^r\. 7v ''^'^ r''' '^^ht that greeted me, as I reached ,t, was a Loon off on the water. That only one was in sight gave promise of the other h f ofTir" '^V^'- '^^^ ^^^« -- ^- than nait of a miie m diameter, and the task of exani- inmg every foot of the margin was by no means an THE ISLAND ON WHICH THK PRECEDING LOON's NEST WAS SITUATED BY A. C. BENT impossible one, though it was more boggy and there were more r«eds, than usual. Impeded by my coat, I floundered on, the Loon following keeping abreast of me wherever I went. The pond was in two parts, divided by a low island, that almost filled the narrows in the middle. I traversed the eastern lobe, but found no sign of the nest. Then I waded to the island, and systematically examined its shore. There were 46 The Submergkd Tenth nmnf' K i^ 'u"^"' ^^"'"'^ ^^'^'^ ^' 'he Starting- point, heated, bedraggled, and well-nigh dil FLOATING NEST OP THE GREAT LOON. ,N AN ONTARIO LAKE BY C. J. YOUNG couraged. Suddenly, out at the edge of the reeds about twenty yards ahead of me, there arose a most prodigious fluttering and splashing, and away went 47 Among the Water-Fowl an enormous Loon, half flying, half dragging hcr- Thr ^r^^ I hastened forward, and waded out Through the reeds I could see a muskrat house,' and I knew what was in store. Not on top, bu on the outer side, well down near the water the ANOTHER VIEW OF THE PRECEDING bird had flattened out a sort of platform. It was he home of the Loon-at last ! In a slight hT lavL of^K TT^ '^^' ^^^' " ^^« the full rid/to L^ K f 7'' "'^^*^"'' ^°^ it ^^« almost ready to hatch. A day or two more, and I should have been too late. This it was, in particular, 48 The Submekoed Tenth which made me confident that on the nfh,r Uk the Loon, had already hatched °hei yoi" '''' What could be wetter than the 8urroun.fi„« „f th.. most amphibious creature, out there a couple of r«fc from shore in three or four feet of water ^De Sm4'"to ir„''°""'''°"V"'' ""* '^^ l^kerisbgTL" *TXf'r r"wt' E^i' eh"""!" ''"'• "'•"" «;n,i,y coLitatio:. "FrtrS^ar ^'-JS then— ,t seemed to me rather inappropriateir th- wild quavering note, which, though rrSl^, 49 PART II. MODERN CLIFF-DWELLERS (Gannets, Gui:iemots, Auks, Puffins, Kittrwakes, Etc.) One by one, retiring like an army of heroes from a well-fought, but unequal battle, the Murres and their allies have yielded up fortress after fortress along our coast as the encroachments of man have OKBAT BIRD ROCK AT BVBNtNO pushed their breeding-grounds farther and ferther toward the wilds of the north. The time was when they occupied the rocks off Boston harbour, and swarmed upon the islands of the New England coast. But this was long ago. Only the Black Guillemots maintain themselves as far sout|^ as the islands of the coast of Maine by hiding tHeir eggs under forbidding boulders, as also do a very £w so Modern Cliff-Dwellers Puffins at Matinicus Rock, and Razor-billed Auks at Grand Manan. Several pairs of Double-crest^l Cormorants, after many vain efforts to rear a single brood, are about giving up the struggle. I had hoped to find better conditions existing in Nova Scotia ; but, wherever I went, the story was repeated that within the last few years the birds had ceased to nest. Inquiry revealed the fact that the islands of the oult ot St. Lawrence are now practically the southernmost stronghold of these interesting and the Magdalen Islands, accompanied by a congenial Nova Scotia, whence we embarked in the weeklv steamer upon the then calm waters of the often turbulent Gulf of St. Lawrence. Early next morn- ing, exhilarated by the almost frosty air, we gazed "T^ '!"/ r^ s/n^-lstone cliffi, spruce-grown hills and fields dotted with white cottages, of the Magi dalen Islands, sparkling in the sunshine. ^ In due time we reached our destination, the home of a fisherman, near the eastern end of the Cham of islands. After an interesting week spent among the water-birds of the ponds about East B^rH V I ^T7^ f^'. °"' embarkation for the Bird Rocks. Weeks before we had made arrange- ments with the captain of a small schooner to land us on the Great Bird Rock on June 21. and call for nil' %^\.^yY' ^^" "^ ^'^^ '^« fc^^Per of the «ird Rock light for entertainment. I; 51 Among the Water-Fowl The day was unpromising ; clouds were threat- ening, a fog-bank hung off at sea, and the wind, strong from the south-east, covered the ocean expanse with white-caps. About ten o'clock, when we had given up hope of starting that day, the schooner was sighted off to the westward. In half an hour she had rounded the polHI ind "hove to" off the beach. As no boat put ofF from her, we got two French fishermen to launch their seine- boat and set us aboard. It was no easy matter, but finally we got out through the breakers without a wetting, and managed to tumble up on the plung- ing vessel. Following along shore, for an hour or so, the strong wind bore us opposite East Point, when, turn- ing our backs upon the grjm expanse of sand that has received so many human corpses from the deep, we sped out into the unknown toward the invisible rock that lay sixteen miles to the north. Soon we approached the off-lying fog-bank, and the "gray walls" shut in thick and chill around us. The vessel was now rolling and plunging into the trough of the following seas in the most approved fashion. After two hours or more the captain thought that we must be getting near to the Rock. More and more birds came in sight, and we strained our ears for the clamour of the colony and the roaring of the surf. At length, anxious lest we should run too close upon the Rock in the fog, the captain crawled out and stood upon the end of the bowsprit, plung- ing almost into the sea. Suddenly, now, the fog began to lift — a sign of land. Soon we could see the blue overhead, and then, just as our look-out Modern Cliff-Dwellers uttered a joyous shout, we saw an apparition of red and gray cliffi, and Bird Rock emerged from the mist lilce a grim fortress, less than half a mile away. On top of the precipice that rose sheer from the ocean were a light-house and other buildings; along Its sides were lines of black and white that I knew were birds upon their nests. Flying before the wind, the Rock seemed to rise right upon us. The air was now clear and the sun bright. Gannets, Kittiwakes, Murres, Auks and Puffins were passing and repassing about us flying to and from the cliffs. Then we rounded the north-east corner of the Rock, about a gunshot out from it, looking up in amazement at the swarms of birds that almost filled the air, or clustered in masses upon the narrow ledges of the cliffy; It seemed to me like a busy street of a great city, with its tall buildings, in and out of which the crowds surged, only that all the windows were doors, and It was rather alarming to see people falling in showers out of the tenth or twentieth-story win- dows. The words of the Psalmist came to me as impressively descriptive— -« Who are these that fly as doves to their windows?" Our approach was noted from the lighthouse above. The British ensign flying from the top of the flag-stafl=" was dipped in our honour, and sharp rose the crash of the dynamite bomb salute. " Let go," came the shout from above, as we rounded the north-west corner. Down went our anchor in response. We both took snapshots of the clifl^, then hurried into the dory, where our baggage had already been put, and were rowed shoreward. The 53 Among the Water-Fowl sea broke considerably around on the other side; but here, fortunately, where the only beach was it w^ under lee from the wind, and withouTanv stony shingle only a few rods long rnrk^K '^^ I'i^'^^ » ^^^of ladders spiked to the rock by which one could climb up the over one hundred feet of cliff, and here by the boat wa^ tSe fbnous "crate." a little open box or platform wth MUKBB8 AND K1TTIWAKE8 NEST.NG-«Oi. THE CRATB Slab sides about waist high. Into this we put our baggage and then climbed in ourselves. The crank ground. This was the ordeal which in time past I had somewhat dreaded, but which now seemed the pleasantest and most natural thing in the wo.ld Before we realized it we were well up ^om the at" nJh'"!' '°°'^' r^ ^"^" ^"^ fariway. whcl at -ngth. I ventured a downward glance. Wt 54 MODEKN CtlFF-DwELlERt were only some ten feet or oked directly down over the edge of the cliff, and stood entranced at • fr "?K • It was indeed one of life and motion, for a throng of birds filled the air. ceaselessly pass-! ing and repassing. Some were leaving thei? nests. swung up from the ocean level, to alight each in Its proper niche. Others passed by us within a few feet, but none flew over the land. Years ago the "THERE WAS THE SCHOONER ALREADY SA.L.NO AWAY. AND NORTH BIRD ROCK OUT BEYOND " birds occupied the whole level area of green-sward on top. whjch I should think is about three hun- dred yards long, and half as wide. Now. however ZV)\^f'''''^f'''^ ^^S^^*^--' they'recognTze the fact that man has the ascendency. There was no cessation in the passing throng any more than there is in business hour! on the ahght. hovering slightly as they passed some con- venient crag, even extending their feet, but decide 57 MCiocorv mounioN tbt omit (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 1.1 itt u IM 1X6 LS. 12.0 !J:25 i u 1.6 jA /APPLIED IM/<3E Inc 16S3 East Uoin Stract Rochnltr. Nmr rorli I4<(N USA (716) 482 - OJOO - Phone (716) 3M - MS9 - r=^--otshy:a''nd' approach within about twenty feet before tak- ing to flight. Now and then a Gannet would perch at the top, but not for long, and it was still rarer to see a Kittiwake :n such a position. Both these spe- cies, for the most part, nested well down from the top, but I soon noticed a group of Gannets only about fifteen feet down, and^hTs^wa one of the first subjects for the camera. A „"le locati^ h T'''''^'''^' '"^^ ^« ^« disposition and location, had a nest even nearer the top with th?"'^'* impossible not to follow the birds TuIVa" '^'' '""^/^ '"^"^' '' ^''' ^^« ^o produce ^ight dizzmess and headache, almost "sea-sickness." And then, too, until one gets accustomed to it, 59 ' I SOON NOTICED A GROUP OF GANNETS ONLY ABOUT FIFTEEN FEET DOWN " i i Among the Water-Fowl it is a strain upon the nerves to be ever on guard ^f **"f. !?^^"S a single careless step and falling off the chff. The birds seemed so wonderfully at ease, launching off into space, that, after watching them awhile, it seemed almost natural and proper to follow their example. At length, in our tour of investigation, we came «kj*'~««9PHH^B^Ka^^^^^^Ku ai'<)und to the south - east end of the island, where the Puf- fins breed. The ground here was rather less grassy, rough, with rock cropping out. Here and there were holes in the ground, the entrances to the burrows of the Puffins, which most often led in under some flat rock. Groups of Puffins were congregated upon several projecting rocks at the edge of the cliff, and now and then an incubat- ing bird would scurry out from a hole, as we approached, and fly off Here the cliff was broken into a series of comparatively broad ledges, which one could rea(.h successively by several iron ladders. It did not seem as formidable as on the other side, and we both made the descent to the lowest ledge, about fifteen or twenty feet above the water. 60 GANNET AND BRUNNICH's MURRES INCUBATING, AS SEEN PROM ABOVE Modern Cliff-Dwellers Now and then we started an Auk from its egg in some recess or under some projection of the rocic. As this was the most accessible part of the cliff many eggs had been gathered from these ledges' and there were not as many here as elsewhere! where they could not be reached. However, as we climbed down to the bottom ledge, we came upon a nne crowded line of Murres, each sitting on its single egg laid on the bare rock, close in under the overhanging cliff. They all . left their eggs pell-mell when they saw that we were really coming down to them. The sud- denness with which they flew started one or two of the eggs rolling, and then 1 saw a practical illustration of the wisdom of the plan of Nature which has made the eggs of these birds pear-shaped. Instead of rolling off the ledge, they simfy turned around on their axis only moving a few inches from their place. The shells, too are so hard that they can withstand a great deal of rough usage, though occasionally I noticed one that had been broken. After inspecting these interesting sights, we 6i •NOW AND THEN WE STARTED AN AUK FROM ITS EGG IN SOME RECESS ... OF THE ROCK" Among the Water-Fowi cJimbed back to the top. My friend went off with his camera and the Keeper came along, offering to pilot me about taking me to the north side, the highest part of the island. Here was another de- scent by ladder, and the invitation was given me to go down to a line Gannet colony. I accepted it and followed my guide, not without considerable trepidation, down two ladders, about half way down the precipice. Here it was nec- essary to walk along a narrow ledge, barely wide enough for one's feet, for about fifty yards ere we could reach a broad, safe promontory at the corner of the island. At first it seemed violent death to follow that strait \^d"nl"fow way along the verge of destruction; but assured by the Keeper, and steadying myself by his big, brawny fist held ou. behind him, I passed safely 'through the ordeal, and breathed more freely when we reached the projection, where we could view two sides of the cliff. Upon the continuation of the same ledge around the corner, was a splendid array of Gannets upon their nests, The nearest were ' * • A LINE OF MURHES EACH SITTING ON ITS SINGLE EGO LAID CI THE BAHt ROCK, CLOSE IN UNDER THE OVER- HANGING CLIPF " 63 only about ten Among the Water-Fowl bn„g,„g bunche. of sea-weed in their billa °o repair the.r nests, perhaps pillaged of material by tC neighbours. Each had its single very lar« dir^ "'h.te egg, usually in a &ir fnug nm of wee7 Probahm ^- *' '88 wa. upfn the bareTock' Probably the lining was to be added later. fc, A , '•"PP'"; ' """ge'' quarters in the cellar for developing plates, and went to work on tho« I had exposed during the afternoon. Tthe darknei gathered, even there indoors, I could hear one »« of bird-note, al the other members of the "01^, chattering ,L, "!. * *^""y "«'"= ♦"'"'ering or cnattering, that seemed to come from all direction, and I recognized, from descriptions, the son^^ almost deserves that name-of ?he Lelch's K wo^^ w:: d"'/ r* "^'"^ "'"""• -d. after ^ nZh Z\ u "'""' °"" '° investigate. It wm pitch dark however, and I could sel nothing S them, so I retired to secure needed r«t AH night, in dream, I seemed to be crawIinTout on We were up early the next mornine and out before breakfast for a look at the wfds The weather was cloudy and windy, though tre la! 64 Modern Cliff-Dwellers no fog— evidently no chance for photography. Breakfast was over by seven, and then it did not take long to return to the birds. It seemed very strange to have so many of them so close about us and these not the common door-yard species, but those which usually one must seek afar upon the wild seas. For all that they made the most agree- able and fascinating of bird-neighbours. I ha J expected that Bird Rock would be a very noisy place, but in reality it did not give me that impres- sion. During the day there are plefity of sounds, but they are either lost or mellowed in the vastness ot Nature s amphitheatre. The sea moans and the wind sighs, making a sort of bass monotone into which the cries of the birds harmoniously blend From th.* house it all sounds like some muffled murmur. But standing at the edge of the cliff the sounds are audible enough, though not as 'ear- splitting as in some Gull or Tern colonies. The loudest calls arose when anything agitated the Kittiwakes, when the shrill clarion— sounding like « kittiwake, kittiwake "—enunciated with startling distinctness, rang out above everything else. The harsh grating notes of the Gannets were also very noticeable at tim-s. But the other inhabitants have very subdued voices, and only express themselves in low croakings and gruntings. The morning passed pleasantly and profitably in further study of the birds, especially the Murres. There were two kinds, the Common and the Brun- nich's, in about equal abundance, I thought. The two were mixed in on the ledges indiscriminately. A Common Murre sitting on its egg was just as 65 Among the Water-Fowl likely to have for its next neighbour one of the other species as an individual of its own kind. Occasionally all on a ledge would prove to be of one species only, and often, when mixed, one kind would greatly outnumber the other. But the only way to get identified eggs was to watch a ledge, note the order of the species as they sat upon the eggs, and then mark the eggs as they were taken. In addition to the above, there are a few individuals of the type once named the " Ringed Murre," dis- tinguished by a white line running back from behind the eye. Naturalists are in doubt as to whether or not this is a valid species, and, if not, how to account for this aberration. We also investigated the nesting of the Puffins. Securing a pick-axe, by hard toil we managed to dig out several burrows. Each was from one to two yards in length, ending in a larger chamber, where the one dirty-white egg was laid in a slight bed of grass and feathers. The soil is largely the debris of red sandstone, which, we found, gives to some of the eggs a reddish stain rather hard to remove. In one instance we caught a Puffin on the nest Despite its struggles and biting, the Keeper's son despatched it, and the work of taxidermy fell to my lot, which occupied the remaining time before dinner. About this time, as I had hoped, the clouds rolled away, and we were favoured with an after- noon of sunshine. Of course the camera came again into vogue. After taking some more general views, I began the attempt to photograph birds on the rocks at close range. The south-east end Puffin 66 Modern Cliff-Dwkllers ground seemed to be the best place for this, where Puffins, Murres and Auks gathered at the top of the "PRESENTLY A PUJFIN ALIT RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA" cliff. First I noticed one rock where the Puffins frequently alit, and set the camera on the ground, focusing it on this spot. Then I withdrew with .67 I MADE SEVF.RAL EXPOSURES ON PtTFPINS 68 MoDFKN Clikk-[)wi;i.i.f;ks the end of the long tube, and lay down on the ground, htty teet away. Presently a Puffin alit right in front of the came-a, then another. I made several exposures on Puffins, then removed the in- strument to another rock, where I secured some close shots at Murres and Auks. After that f 1 SHtCKl:il ;sn.\IK II.OSF. SIlDTS AT ALKS aimed at a whole crag on which all these birds gathered in a larger group, and made several expo- sures-^ on them. They had to be rapid exposures, as the birds were moving their heads all the time, and the strong wind blew their feathers badly. I was interested in watching the 'Cannets in their relations one with the other, and it seemed to me 6q Among the Water-Fowl Sw^f^^ T*" '^u T'' ^""^■el^omc of all the Cliff- Dwcllers, though for the most part they were peaceable enough. At times I saw groups of them Si '''^"'^'' '" ^"^"^^y &shio„.^some of tLer^ probably mates, caressing one another with tS »v;s ^ „.»,,,- bills. Yet fre- quently there were manifesta- tions of displea- sure and hostil- ity. One instance was especially curious. I saw a Gannet plunge into the water from mid -air, and come to the surfece with a fish or eel. Another at once laid hold on the prize, and there followed a long tug of war. I pur posed seeing the tl^ "" r "'- '^^^ --^ nf LtTf a finish than at first, and something else distracted my never t"; /' " " 1^^^^^' ''^^'* °^ ^^''^ ^ ^-I^ never tire, to watch the great fellows scale close by the top of the chfF, with extended wings that meas^ l\L A ''''°? '' ^ ""'" ^"" '''^'^^» ^»d then glide down and out over the ocean, at times to 70 • AFTER THAT I AIMED AT A WHOLE CRAG ON WHICH ALL THESE BIRDS GATHERED IN A LARGER GROUP" Modern Cliff-Dwellbm plunge like an arrow into the wave with a force that suggests concussion of the brain, disappearing for some seconds, and then fluttering up udth the a^onti:^ ''''^- '^'^ — ^^ - -Pe -h th. ^LT '""'""[T'^'S to hear the Keeper tell about the birds After the breeding-season they all scatter, and very few feathered creatures are seen like The F-i''"^ ""'T ^."' files of hardy Ducks, drift t mT' "' '^^y ^y ^^°"g '^^ ^^^^ in the drift-ice What an experience it must be to re- main isolated from the world, in all those bitter Wul storms, beyond human help for months at a time! No wonder these brave and hardy people rejoice over the return of the birds in the\priL Records of this and other phenomena have been kept at the request of scientific societies or of the Government, and I will quote a little from the ledger. A record of temperature, by the wav is also kept, and other meteorological facts. The highest recorded temperature on the Rock was 7, degrees, Fahrenheit. During the daytimes of our stay the mercury indicated from 48 to cc Who ever visits the Bird Rocks, even in summer, shouW wear winter clothes and not forget a heavy overcoat Here is a calendar of the arrivals of the birds in the season of 1900— as the Keeper had it • March 14. i dozen Kittiwakes 2 dozen Kittiwakes 100 Kittiwakes 500 Kittiwakes. Disappear for a few days 1000 Kittiwakes « «« « M *5- 16. 18. 22. 71 Among the Water-Fowl March 27. " 28. April 2. appear, and 2 Gannets (« (« May 3- 4- 9- 1 1. 18. 21. 28. 29. 2. Kittiwakes all back About 2000 Murres depart About 1000 Murres return. S6en Murres all arrived 4 Gannets seen Gannets common 50 Razor-bills return Razor-bills common 6 Puffins seen Puffins common Petrels heard Petrels common The following is the record as kept for 1895, »" accordance with a printed list of questions : Kittiwakes. Arrived March 1 1 Next seen March 23 Common March 24 Began to lay May 23 Arrived March 25 Next seen April 3 Common April 3 Began to lay May 15 Arrived April 1 Common April 12 Began to lay May 5 Arrived April 18 Common April 18 Began to lay May 24 Arrived April 26 Common April 26 Began to lay May 26 « «( «( Murres. M t* Gannets. Razor-bills. Puffins. t€ 12 Modern Cliff-Dwellers Petrels. Arrived May 6 " Common May 6 " Began to lay May 29 Saturday, the 23rd of June, dawned clear and calm. After breakfast we started out on a trip to North Bird Rock, as the sea was smooth, and all conditions favourable. The other men lowered me in charge of the cameras and various equipments in Uie crate, and then climbed down the long ladder There was a dory up on one of the lower ledges out of the reach of any ordinary sea. Thev manage^ this y nicely by attaching the hoisting apparatus, thus easily swinging it up or down. The Keeper and his son rowed. As we neared the rocks the Gannets. far wilder than on the main rock where they have become accustomed to the oresence of man, began to fly ofl^in clouds, and I took a couple ot snapshots, which, owing to the plunging of the boat, were not very successful. The rock is in two parts. The main part, occupying hardly more than an acre of space, begins with a few low ledges, then rises up precipitous about forty feet. The top was covered white with Gannets on their nests, as was the other part, a most interesting formation. This IS called the "Pillar," or "Pinnacle," consisting of a perpendicular column of rock rising sheer out of the water some sixty or seventy feet, and, I should think, absolutely unclimbable. There is no beach to these rocks, and the sea comparatively calm as it was, rushed upon the ledges with considerable violence. Awaiting a good chance, we ran our boat on to a flat rock and jumped out. First we both took pictures of the 73 74 Modern Cliff-Dwellers Pinnacle, that stood about a hundred yards off with shallow water inri>rvf.n;»» t'l ^ » ^^^" scale the cliff '"'l.^Z S' J^^" ^e undertook to on 1 -i^ Kittiwakes had nests here and there - on the sides a few of them within reach by a littk up. Thus we reached ledge after ledge, until we were safely landed on the top. This we found to consist of bare flat rock, which was covered with nests of the Gannets ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ about a yard apart ^^s^^^c^^^o^^^^T^^^^ all over the area. photograph, a good large o.ve w.th They were piles *'*=°gin " andasu ble fish of sea-weed, more Latirlthfj' '"',"°^^ °^ '^«- --« empty i-ater ,n the day we learned the cause. ^^' 1 selected one of the nests to photoffraoh - .nH up on the edge for future use. Just then the Keeper called out, from below—" GenVlemr Among the Water-Fowl to examine further, we made the descent, lowering one another from ledge to ledge. I told hf andT^^r'*' '5" ' u""" •>"' «™ minutes mo«! and rushed around to the other side of the island where I could see what I named " the Rift " ft was as though the island had at some time cracked X~„h""i"^ ?f T"'?« » ^'"^ ''^ ""o^. with TnTmh fJ-'*'' "?" *^'™'*«* "«ting-places for .wTnM """"»*'• ' ''° "<" "nfember see- ing any Murres or Razor-bills, though there may have been a few on the sides not examined. The ea evidently washes through this rift at times though now one could walk across. I got time &; one picture of it, and another of the Piracle before the Keeper protested' that I .us, come, atd S t^f ^:.^ "' '""' "'' '"^'- The wind wa^ C,r«t Bird Rock, however, before the squall finally came. Then the wind blew quite hard cltrld'a'^l''""- '''""" *■": '""" ""«■ '^hen it I spent the first part of the afternoon getting fhe r/%™"°"f "'* ''y ''"'"g 'he camLof Later^te'^ntH '^"i"',"'* "•' '»''« '""^h^d- Later I went down with the Keeper again to the .?er"and'?7^ °" ?" ^'"^^^ " ">' norfh-w«t cor! ner and did some photography, as on the first visit ,J .k I. *" •*?" '^*™''"- Returning to the top the Keeper tied a rope under my arms and held ,t while I climbed down to a^ledge „«r the top where a number of Murres wereTesdnT and secured a few identified eggs of both sp«,"J; 76 MODEKN C/.IFF-DWEHERS Of Ihf bTj'""*'^ r'^' ' '*""' Of 'he specie, ot the birds ,n order, as they sat on the eees Th.s west s,de of the islan'd was under 1 Ml gtre elplres rr, '""' T"'''"' *- '"stantant swung out and lowered, until I gave the signal to stop. All about were many inter- esting subjects, especially Kitti- wakes, that I had found no oppor- tunity to photo- graph before, also groups of Murres, and off to one */r«ito:j^rds''''siL^'T -y^ °' mass of Murres of WK ^- ^ ^ f"^^^''' ^^^ * cTatT "m:" T'"'*" ''" '"" "^"-^ -ut ofX eot ^he e«^ , V '''"/'^. °" 'he little railing and «Ppe«L to"^ L^°r °^ ">« ''-'•^. which did^ not «h^ kept ut^Trlr^.l.P''''"''' P»™cularly, though one wouW We fh T •"'"''• ""' ""^ '"^ ""en would leave, though it soon returned. Then I 77 "" "•""t'^Tim B«UN»,cH'. »i„,E 7» Modern Cliff-Dwellers put in the plate and made ready, placing the camera mtln^.r"'" P°""°" °" '^'^ ^'^^^"«' *"d making instantaneous exposures. The crate kept turning around, but so slowly that it made no difference range. Thus I was lowered successively from ledge to ledge, swinging off in mid-air, till I had photo- graphed everything within useful range, when I JCST BELOW THBM [wERE] THREE K.TT.WXKES ON XHE.R .VESTS Signalled to be drawn up. There were no birds nesting close to the other hoisting-apparatus, or I should have made a descent there too .n.lf"'^'?M '*;^ ^^^^'•"°«" ^e had seen a schooner anchor off North Bird Rock. A dory went ashore, and we could hear the gunshots as they were killing the birds. After a time the men rowed over to thf main rock, landed, and two of them, and a boy climbed up the ladder. The men went abound sho Jl ing raking shots along the lines of birds upon their nests mowing them down. Most of those killed simply lay dead upon the nesting-spot. where thL 79 Among thr Water-Fowl were inaccessible. A few fell to the water anA were picked up by the boat, where thev haT^lut^l pile of birds and a couple of pails of eg J Mv fact'^thlrth" ''" --ity was^empere7by th^ hungry for fresh meat. Yet for all that they OANNETS. MURRE8 AND KITTIWAKES. FROM THE CRATE ought not to be allowed to slaughter the breed- ing birds. Owing to this there are only a few thousands left here at present out of former in- numerable multitudes, and all these interesting and beautiful sea-birds are becoming scarcer every year. Why cannot the Canadian Government protect them by law, and make these lighthouse keepers, or others, game-wardens, with full powers 80 Modern Cliff-Dvii LEKS to protect the bird.? Th, i. .omething that b.rd.|over. may well strive to have acc^mpihed. Never can I forget the impreMion. of the Sundav that I »pe„, on Bird Rock. ^The .ky „a. overcasT r„i kn"^- r°"8 """'' '■™"' the s„uti,-east, raw and ch.ll,w„h occasional showers. The me cury did not nse above 50 degrees during the day, and the heaviest clothing was none too waL. Pundled up m overcoat and rubber-boots, I sat on ,1. "edge "beheld 1T°? "?' r"" " '■" '""'^ '"d. »"'' beheld the fowls of the air." If possible the spectacle was even more impressive than on the every bird was m motion. This was in accord with the Keeper s observation that the birds fly most „ wmdy weather They were like the s^hi^ ha" spread their «ils ,0 the favouring breezes.*^ Each mdividual bird, seemingly, would%it upon its egg or eggs just enough to keep them watm, startinf away for a few turns out over the water at freque« n ';. 'r"" """ ''" °f *ese sights. ^ On Monday morning the sky was again over- cast, and, just as I had set out the^amera^to try a short "time exposure" on some Puffins, the rain Banks of fog lay ofl^ around the Rock, and the dynamite bomb exploded regularly ever^ twenty minutes the warning to veSels. The time wis when these fog-signals frightened the bird "ausr ^em to start so hurriedly from their n-its as tl cause many eggs to fill down the clifli. But now I 81 Among the Water-Fowl could not tee that they were alarmed in the least by the explosions, and I did not see a single cm fall during my stay. This was the day when the schooner was to return for us, so, under the circum- stances, we busied ourselves preparing a few speci- mens and getting ready for the possible departure, notwithstanding that it looked as though our visit might be prolonged. Several land-birds had taken refoge on Bird Rock, one of which was a Long-eared Owl. Sun- day night It flew out fi-om under the lighthouse, and next morning the Keeper shot it as it flew out again He thought it would kill his chickens, and. though such a practice ia ouite foreign to the spccitt, I could not guarantee that it would not have done It under pressure of starvation. Indeed, who would not ? As I entered the tool-house, a bird was fluttering against the window, a Black-billed Cuckoo as I found by catching it, of which species I had •ccn several individuals on the main islands of the group. I let it go in the open, and ofl^it went with the V ind, northward, toward N-^wfoundland, where I trust ,t arrived safely in due time. I also observed a Bittern and a pair of White-winged Crossbills. About the middle of the afternoon, with a change of wind to the west, the clouds broke and the sun shone out for awhile. I took a few more general views of the great bird-colony, and then set «ie camera on the rocks for shots at close range. But the birds were restless, flying almost constantly, and would not gather where I wanted them. Be- fore I succeeded in getting a single group, we saw the schooner coming, several miles away. 82 Modern Clipp-Dwelleri .«J^" 'u* ^^0^ J«'^'de« ^p-«^ -- Before this I had only one or two distant ghmpses from steamers at Petrels, or "Mother ?Ztr ,9'"'^''«°'- 0« here the curio" 1 ttle a wWte band "'''^^^-^^ - colour, except for t;„^ % " the rump-were everywhere flit- ting and pattering about. They fly i„ the m^t irregular manner, as though they had nrspTck destination in view, as ind«d they have not '^are Sere,^ cL'nT''"""^''"'^ ''"'^'''y 'hese ocean wan! derers can discover the presence of a supply. After we had fished awhile, the skipper sugg-^^ed that we 99 Among the Water-Fowi. throw out some cod-livers, and see the birds. Just then, as it happened, there was but one bird, a Shearwater, in sight. It was but a moment or two before it spied the mass floating on the water, sur- rounded by a greasy "slick," and, alighting beside it, proceeded, with satisfied grunts, to gorge itself in the most eager and gluttonous manner, as though afraid that another might come to share the feast. This evident anticipation was certainly well founded, for in a moment, as though out of space, a Petrel appeared, then another Shearwater, and soon there were over fifty birds around us. Perfectly fearless, they would swim or fly up, and almost take the liver from our hands. It was a most animated and interesting scene. This first day gave me yet another acquaintance. As we were nearing the fishing grounds, I spied a large dark bird approaching, higher up than is usual with the Shearwaters, flying more like a Gull. "A Jiddy-hawk," exclaimed the fisherman, and, seizing a clam from the " washer," he tossed it over the side. The bird would have passed us at some dis- tance, but no sooner did it see the fisherman's move- ment than it turned, and swooped down to the water, quite close alongside. Then I knew that the mysterious " Jiddy " was the Pomarine Skua, or Jaeger — of a tribe that are a sort of predatory adjunct to the Gull fraternity. We saw but two more that day ; a little later in the season they were abundant. Since that interesting day of initiation, a num- ber of years ago, I have made many more trips thither, and jto other parts of our coast, to study lOO Ocean Wanderers these ocean wanderers, and have come to know them quite intimately, as they are seen in this part of the world Yet a most interesting part of their career is still buried in obscurity. The Shearwaters are new believed to breed in the Antarctic regions during the southern summer, about January or February. Like their allies the Petrels, they nest in burrows in the ground or holes in cliffs. After this they start wandering, and where do they not go over earth's oceans? They wander up the southern seas, cross the equator, and, according to the fishermen, appear off Nova Scotia and on the Banks about the first of May, following the migration of various fish. They are found all over the northern ocean until autumn, when they gradu- ally withdraw, as cold weather comes on. The fishermen rarely or never see them in winter, and I myself have seen but one, a Greater Shearwater I took It to be, the last day of one December, about eight miles off Chatham. The Jaegers, on the contrary, are raised in northern latitudes, in the short summer of the barren arctic solitudes. Thence they begin to wan- der down to the New England coast in July. By August they become common, and in September and October they are abundant in suitable localities on the ocean. With the advent of winter most of them proceed further south. Our Petrels are both northerners and southerners There are two kinds common on our coast- Leach's and Wilson's Petrels. The only perceptible difference between them is that the former has a forked tail and black webs between its toes, the latter lot Among the Water-Fowl a *' square " tail and yellow webs. They are hard to distinguish at any distance, and thus one might overlook the rarer, though very similar. Stormy or Least Petrel, which I have never certainly identified. Leach's Petrel breeds from the coast of Maine northward, while the other goes with the Shear- waters to the mysterious far south. During sum- mer, when our northern Petrel is breeding, it is usually the southerner that we meet off our coasts. All that I have identified off Cape Cod at that sea- son were of the latter kind. In the autumn we find both kinds intermingled. As for winter, it has never been my fortune to meet any Petrel at that season, though they may opcur further offshore. Out of the very many trips that I have made into the haunts of the ocean wanderers, mostly off Chatham, I will cull out some of the more note- worthy incidents that will illustrate the habits of these unique and interesting birds. One that stands out in my memory was the second of August, away back in 1883, when I met for my first and only time a certain rare bird. As usual, I was with a fisherman off Chatham, well out to sea. Among the many Shearwaters — " Hags " or " Haglets," as the fishermen call them — I noticed an individual "resembling the Greater Shearwater, but lighter in colour in the back, and with a large, conspicuous yellow bill. I had not the least idea what it was, and my naturalistic ardour rose to white heat. Fortunately there was a gun in the cabin. I made ready, and when, at length, the strange bird again flew past, I tumbled it into the water. Luffing the boat up to it, I laid down the gun, and was about to 102 Ocean Wanderers seize my prize, when there came a sudden revivimr Wmgs were spread, and away i, wen,, rigrfroS under my very nose. I felt ,L keenes diippSr. ment until, on the return trip, another of A. -known birds came in sight. 'Vith ^pl*' heart I threw out hvers, and as eagerly did it acceM the mv.tat,on. This time the bird wL m/ne a?d subsequent re^rch identified it as Corey's Sh«r water, which had been newly discorered to sc.W locality. As far as I Icnow, I was thus the second naturalist to secure a specimen. This is Z n^rj^ ttS ^tu of4et-::i"X:riM more femiliar relatives. ^ 1 . ^»'v ',<^°'?P"* *' '"^ common Shearwaters buih butThr. ^°°^ '"°"' '""' ' ""'« *e heavier omit but this does not appear to affect its iiisht I love to watch either of them fly. On a «dndy day when, away out there on the boundless W Z ZX "! """™"8 "'"««' "'"ming^roT^^iot and the advancing wall of water menace the 1 Me white-winged sailing^raft that Ues dee^ downln the hollow the Shearwaters are in the£ element With quick beatings of wing they dash past in Ae he?a« *Nov:T' ''"«■!"' %'"g— chine. t£: and slightly depressed, and scale along the trou"» abundant in ny one locality, even on successive days. Now and then I have seen numbers of them ust off Chatham Bars, but usually they are norcommo! I I I Among the Water-Fowl much in-shorc from " the Crab Ledge," a fishir? ground about eight miles from land. And then agam, they arc away off on " Rocky Ground '' twenty miles or more off shore. Still, it is won- derful, when vision and other resources fail to place them, to try the judicious use of cod-liver. Again and again when not a bird was in sight, and I was satisfied that they had gone off shore, as the boat sailed along I have tossed out now and then a piece of liver, squeezed into fragments. In the course of some ten minutes, a Petrel would be seen, hovering far astern, feasting greedily. Soon the supply w^ garnered, and the " Mother Carey's " followed up the wake of the boat. No« matter how fast we Killed the ever hungry bird soon caught up and flitted close about, as though begging for more. Wot only one, but another and another, a Haglet a Skua, and before long we had the usual cbmpany I would not assert that by the chemical union of cod-hver and oxygen Shearwaters are produced, and from liver and hydrogen Petrels, though at times it almost seems so. Try it and see! Yet I should advise one not to expect too much, unless there is a likelihood that there is at least one Petrel within a few miles. The solution is, I take it, the acuteness ot their vision that enables them to see others hover- mg and feeding at a far greater distance than we could descry them. These ocean birds seem to have some power of observation as to the weather. Fishermen had told me that Petrels flock before a storm, but it was long before I observed it for myself At length, one atternoon m August, we were sailing in from the 106 Ocean Wandexem "Rocky Ground,," when , thunder wuall be»n to ro 1 up fr ,he w«tward. The clo^d. greTv " app«.red shoreward. Ju« then we sailed by a flock of Petrels closely grouped upon the water ^ The« Mu.t aaye been over a hundred of them and nthr,! rtr "l""^' '"«''i'"« '" ">'- "id, 'Though ,^ or trembling of the wings, and emitted low twit! ermg notes. They certainly seemed ill at ^e Tj hteffl "*" *r *• 'PP™"^'' "f 'he st^rm L this eflict upon them, as the skipper said it was a common hab.t at such times. Poor little twL :^:£j :iitSp-Lt:ofr^^^^^^^^ jBni^t;p:te:^:,o^™t:Tk:^vd- tu^'x;^: j ot^thtuX ThT "?'• slender, blak^legs and litS: wSb d f^'e ''hTi°n"S an adhfn-'^'T k^' "?™ Photography was made an adjunct to bird-study, and one August dav ,h. cZtT ""r ' ""tif °»' «"' joint trip o'fove ing well in-shore on the " Crab Ledge," so we did not have to start till half-past five. f„ 'a couple of hours we were on the iishing-grounds, the dav ^.ly cloudy, and the wind liglt^ W hetut^^ east. Birds seemed unusually scarce. Except for it ' Among the Water-Fowl •ome Terns near land, I did not see a single one till we had been fishing half an hour. Then one Greater Shearwater came Hying around after some- thing to eat, and presently a Wilson's Petrel. This made me realize that we might yet have company, 80 I cut out some livers and threw them, piece-meal. r PRESENTLY I HAD A PAIR OP GREATER SHEARWATERS BOBBING AROUND THE BOAT, GULPING DOWN LIVER GREEDILY." astern, the strong tide carrying them swiftly to leeward. The old method worked like a charm. Presently I had a pair of Greater Shearwaters bob- bing around the boat, gulping down liver greedily, and quite a number of Petrels pattering and flutter- ing about. Still they came, more Petrels and Shearwaters, then several Sooty Shearwaters and a 108 lOQ a V i ti Among the Wat'-r-Fowl few Pomarinc Jaegers. The latter were shyer than the others, remaining, for the most part, on the outskirts of the group, though now and then venturing nearer for some specially tempting morsel. In half an hour we had a hundred biros close around us. The " Haglets " and " Mother Carey's " were exceedingly tame. They would come right up to the side of the boat to secure a piwcc of liver and once I actually caught a Petrel alive by giving It a httlc poke with a gaff, seizing it before it could again get awing. I nearly induced a pair of Shear- waters to eat out of my hands. They would swim up, extend their bills within a foot of the liver, and gaze at it as wistfully as a dog does at a bone. As soon as I dropped it, they would pounce upon it, extending their wings and uttering peculiar grunts and wailing sounds. And here is how I got my photographs. I made ready the camera for an instantaneous ex- posure, and, by the focusing-scale, set the lens for what I guessed would be the proper distance. Then I enticed the birds as near the boat as possible by throwing out liver close alongside. With greasy hands I caught up the camera, made a final guess at tl^ focus, and snapped at the birds before they were off. A Reflex camera would have been far better for this work, but I had to make the best of the apparatus at hand. Sometimes I threw out a whole handful of liver a lit^'^ farther from the boat, and instantly there would be a frantic scramble for it of all the birds nearest. The Shearwaters seemed particularly quar- relsome, and how they would fight for that liver, no Ill Among the Water-Fowl squealing and biting at one another with every possible exhibition of passion. If the liver is car- ried under by the tide, several birds at once dive atter it, and, emerging amid the excited crowd, will bear up on their backs others that happen to be over them,~as is shown in the illustration. While resting on the water,, they often extend their wings, perhaps in readiness to flutter and paddle after the food they are expecting to be thrown out. It is rather hard work for them to start in flight, unless there is a good breeze, and they have to run patter- ing with their feet over the water for some distance betore they are fully awing. The fishermen had told me that the Haglets are readily caught with hook and line, and I now tried the experiment. Baiting a small hook on a light line, I tossed it over. A Shearwater immediately pounced down dove after the sinking hook, and cleverly bit ofl^ the bait. I tried again with a brger piece but jerked it out of the bird's mouth. Next time I waited until the thing was half swal- lowed, and then slowly drew the line taut The hook caught in the bill. and. despite frantic flapping and bracing the feet against the water. I drew the victim, a Greater Shearwater, into the boat No sooner was the line slacked than the hook dropped out. having held only slightly in the horny part of the mouth, not injuring the bird in the least Finding that the bird could not rise from a hard surface. I gave it the freedom of the deck It ran into a corner, and squealed and bit when I attempted to handle it. It was awkward in gait and now and then would fall down, evidently being 113 Ocean Wanderers "ther out of practice in ped«triani,m. I„ ,he «me way several more were captured. Wl,en re! men^crtch •'fhl li** '!"' ""^ *' ^""''^ ^e fisher- !^m. r M ^"■'L '° 8« them fighting. Each ^ms to consider the others its enemies, and thev will all set to screaming and tearing at one another m the most desperate feshion. From the account^ Md Kilkenny Cats had at least their equals in these marine fighters. I could not quite bring myse f To wXhe'd *•*■ *\"-"y. contentig '^^^^ with the description, that the traits of these birds here observed made entirely credible P-J'i "'^ """? '"°" '"«'^''" «° photograph the Pe rek than the Shearwaters. They moTed so a'nT^ietaVr ''"' '2 8^' *» caL" focused and aimed at short range before they were ofi^ and even when I did, the motion of their w[ngs wiso "Sfna5"sC?"'tT°"J'"' """ "^" °^- Refie. catror tnLi^rden^t^X cult.es have been greatly lessenli. ' ■*'*■ delightful uncertainty rrUat": ^ytrbr^ ii) 114 Ocean Wanderers forth. As at our « Expositions." different classes or straps ^--rsrd: water is the abundant " Hao-let " «.,«■„ u • their dark-hued relative twen^f""' one '" B^'To"^ and then comes a "Sooty day " when ,1,. j ^ almo. reveled though ?he ^ir^.-^tdU a^ great. Perhaps there is a " colour-line •> amone the Shearwaters, so that when the " coloured " HaJ .n large numbers invade the "Crab L^gt" "j of the lighter-coloured aristocrats managf to Xd more congenial marine pastures elsewhere At times m August we are treated to a "Phalarone thTw^i^lr'o^lj^ ^'"'^ ""'« — - ^' 2T\.:7r''\''' ''""'• o- -ch thr shall ever remember was the 26th of Aueust four yea;, ago. Long before we reached -S d^kfj. " "'^ "J^Set day," for the great Terns It hT "^"^ 'r'^^i^"' "bout, chasing^ the Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls in their savage fashion small G^U ha '""^' '"'''°" " '^ ' '^ ' ^^^n "; c"r'a nW ib?P™' "^^ " ^"'S^. there is almost certamly trouble m store. The latter gives chase The pursued makes every effort to escapl But the H.er W.th savage swoops, he strikes his little white cousm from this direction and from that Mounting i„ the air is of no avail. So at lastln "5 w i;6 Ocean Wanderers has the%irate now for W°Wc S, T'i " P?"^"'' instant, he swoops downTfteJ th^' „,^ '?^ 1°' '" a°: To-^Lrnfor <:^tH: t n^L-tLr^. F ing. that the former might ^stv cnlh" '^'J'""': .he marauder did .heyZro^wTht' "Lr^or &r off T"' t' t™"*^ «?«'«'' "-"il we were ,00 fa^ge'Lt nof LS^pon^T^r 'T"- ^ *^ jMhemseive ^S.in rtrtl^d; ^/^r^:,^: Ld.^" \.S„T;nh:iL:r j^^^^^^^^ so They hung about us all day in Lrae nLk and partook of the liver . it 1 thr ^ ""^bers. Despite all my effom 1 r' I °"' '° '^^"'- could make un hi« ^T ^°^^""g ^^ in distrust, v-wuiu maKe up Jiis mmd to veni-iir#» tu- ^- had towed out a little sUfF W ^ ''""^ ^* came up very close hnf fk- t , J^etrels flew raAer low over mvh«^o-- I did not see any of the Long- Taded Jaeger, whjch, according to my experience « for scarcer than these two, Lly scatterLg onS appearmg now and then. ^ Each of these species Is found to assume a cZ^ M '^P" °^ P'""^^^*'' ^'^^ -«n ^Ter'are considerably at sea regarding their sequence. As the birds now flew about the boat, some had long tuls, some short ones; some had white breasts, others dark; some were in light plumage, some in a phase of a sooty color; some were maf^, others plain; some were barred, others speckled, and so on, this being true of both kinds. There is a great deal here to learn. I would suggest that some competent naturalist go out therein the fiS! men, catch a number of Jaegers, and watch their ^d^er-changes in captivity. Such an experiment wodd furnish a very instructive chapter in orni- thology, could It be carried out. r./r^'* ^ '""^^ "fP^"^^ 'h^n 'h« waters of Cape derers Lh T"^ '^' ^t^''"" °^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^an- derers and other water-birds are those ofl=- Cape iiS Ocean Wanderers access, there is no harbour-bar to cross. Perhaos th. Shearwaters keep offshore, for I have n„, f '^ many of them tW as at cZtH'^Ci^fC p^ace for the Jaeger,. The fishinglboats there te ^„^o7d^Sl?r;^.Se^"° ^'''*"" ^^"-"^ O^berle-^ '"'•"? ^-'^"^l^^-Z Sati;>Kt.i-rth:'t-^.trtS'e bait-fish are plenty. Late one September I made a vigorom effort to see these birds at tLir b«t and saUed out early one morning, with two fishermer,o tSf cod-grounds. Pomarine and Parasitic jX'rs w«e fiirly common, but the wind soon br,ez.i Tso Z •n the cranic little boat, the fishermen wefeafoiW for their lives, and put back to land. It w^ a fii^e «ght to see the powerfol birds, exuwLTn the^r rSfut.'"""' *" '°^'"« --^ -« -« from theU^rTm^staT T^^r"^ ' «°°' ''^"-' K™. J ^ y- ' ""^"^ * '"Kef and better boat and put to sea after the Jaegel We «w a few flying to the southward, but, diough we SiTed well out to sea, and up and down the 7LTtt failed to reach their r Jhaunts. Wh™ kroLZ the southward, we noticed the masts of Tfish „Xt port forlel?- i"' ?" « "S"^' ">'» ««" "'de port for shelter fi-om the approaching storm and Helt .tt ""'" r" ■»=-''«''« h=d Sen th« day S^lf^J ""^ "y*"' ^°' ™y obtuseness. The fleet of schooners were bunched together on a .l!„,! twelve miles southeast of Cape Sab^^tcWnV a"d »«9 Among the Water-Fowl dressing fish. Around them, feasting on the refuse, were literally thousands of Jaegers, cr '* Sea-Hens '* as he called them. They kept coming from all directions throughout the day,— of all sorts and sizes. What a sight it must have been ! The few birds flying towards the fleet would be suggestion enough now as to where to go. But it was too late for after-thoughts. Next day, with the first snow in the air, and a furious, biting north wind, I said farewell to the haunts of the Jaegers. There is another class of birds that, during their stay with us, at any rate, deserve to be included among the Ocean Wanderers,v— the little Phalaropes. They are classed among the wading-birds, and resemble closely small Sandpipers; but in their habits they are quite unique. In their marital ways they are said to reverse the ordinary course of Nature, the females doing the courting, and the males attending to the household duties, such as incubation. One species, the Wilson's, of which I shall tell in another chapter, breeds on the western prairies. Two others, the Northern and the Red Phalaropes, breed in the far north, and occur along the Atlantic coast in spring and fall as migrants. Away out at sea, often far out of sight of land, we find them at these seasons in flocks flying about with twittering notes, just like flocks of Sandpipers, but alighting on the water like genuine water-fowl. They show better their "wadership" when they meet with areas of drift-weed, and, settling down upon it in large numbers, run nimbly about, seeking their food, of small marine creatures. Ofl^ Cape Cod I have been accustomed to see I20 Ocean Wanderers occasional flocks of Phalaropes, or « Whale-birds." as the fishermen there call them, during Aueust Once, in the middle of June. I met a flock of twenty Northern Phalaropes just off ' Matinic^s Rock But I never had any conception of the abundance of these pretty birds in their migration! until one August, off Cape Sable. The fishermen toW me that Hags. Sea-Hens and Mother Carey', Chickens were less plentiful than usual that season having followed the fish elsewhere, but there^ere « millions of * Sea-Geese.' " From their description I knew that these latter were Phalaropes. and iCk an early opportunity to pay them a visit stantiarTii°'''T' '" '""^T"^ P^^^^^ °" « «"b- 8tantial little eleven-ton schooner, manned by a father and two or three stout sons. It was a nice day with a light breeze, most favourable for the work ,n hand. We glided from the sandy cove with 1^ wharf and fish-houses, and by the time that the white beach« and green spruce-tracts were becoming dim in the distance, seeming to slide away from us. rather than we from them, we were in the haunts of the Phalaropes. Flocks of them began to fly by. and then we passed flocks in the water, some- times quietly dressing their beautifully smooth plumage, or splashing and frolicking on the smooth ocean surface. Every bunch or pat?h of drift-weed supported all the Phalaropes it would hold H,-„,l ^^-^T °"5„^^*^^"g ^h«" the land was but dimly in sight. All around us the Phalaropes were «ymg and sporting, always in flocks of half a dozen Zr""'^' f n''^^ '^"^ ^'"^' ^^^" ^' ^^«t> rode Hghtly and gracefully upon the water, and I was reminded ui Among the Water-Fowl of squadrons of miniature shipg riding at anchor in ToTeA %^r' ^' ^'"«;*" ^^''^ "P fishing anS rowed off from the vessel in the heavy Iceel tender right among the birds that would hardly get out of r^^lilTr ''™' ^T '^'y- ' ^»"^ ^ i>»d not almost solid mass of them that covered acres of water. It seemed that such a flock would certainly Wdl/n -V"' "".^ '°^^^ '°^^^d '^-^ they hardly deigned to notice me, and when I was very clc«e, instead of flying, they merely swam to oZ «ide. opening up a sort of lane through their ranks ^up'lSn.' "'"•'• ''" -''-' *'"* Being so near them, I was able to learn accur- nIw^U '^""'T T' ?P^««"ted in this host. tK«l! .1'°'?^'° u" '^^ ^°«^«^" Phalarope, Pha arope,--a slightly larger and plumper bird,^ scattered through their ranks. SoL of these had still a few ruddy feathers in the breast, the last remnants of the summer plumage; but' mott of them were now white-breasted, and bluish gray on the back At a distance it was not easy to^dS! dnguish the two kinds apart by colour alone. The fishermen had told me that for the last two weeks a!Z TI,"°^T" T "'^'^^ °f '^^ red-breasted oii«5 They did not know that this was simply due T f .^° "^"^V"'^'*^?^ "^^ ^ *" ^^^ Phalaropes that fol TK° ^ u. '^% f ^''^""^ °f ^ Nova Scotia fog. The first thing I knew I had lost the vessel. 122 Ocean Wanoereik At length I „w through the h.ze what I took to not ftr >w.y. and I was &r from sorry to set foo^ j««n upon her ancient and .limy declc.'^ ThTugh had a camera with me on this trip, it was before the days when I realized in, value « an Line, to bKd-study. I would give . good deal noiTo be off there agam among that assemblage of birds properly equipped. * ™' Early the next morning the fog was very dense on shore, and I found quite'a few of the pS, "7 in small groups, on the marshes, feeding like "the other numerous waders, at the edges of Ihe po^t They were gone, though, as soon 1 the fog S' The fishermen say that this is .bout tSe o^y occas on when they ordinarily come to land One a"rred Vt •" *" '»"•« August, before I had uX ^^"^ "countered very large numbers of the little things on the flats, as they were surtingfor the tairly light. Occasionally great numbers of Phal- aropes are reported on the New England coast but ytr^H tf *"' """""^ "' '"«' '"-'-" flocks. Hence I incline to the opinion that, in thi ■a? Among the Water-Fowl &11 flight, like the Golden Plover, most of the Wialaropes after leaving Nova Scotia, pass 8o far ofl^ the coast that we seldom encounter the main body ot the migration. ' The only species described in this chapter with whose breeding habits I am. or am likely to be. femihar. is Leach's Petrel. The nesting of mosJ Shearwaters is practically unknown to science, and upon that of the Jaegers, except in northern Europe, only arctic explorers can enlighten us. But many of the islands bff Maine and Nova bcotia have been adopted by multitudes of Leach's Petrel as their summer home. At different times, from Matinicus to the Magdalen Islands. I have examined their rat-like burrows. Seal Island, ofl^ southern Nova Scotia, is a wonderful Petrel-resort. 1 here I have noticed a variation on their usual habit, in that they enter the spruce woods, and die their burrows under the roots of the trees. It it about the last place in the world that one would naturally search for a bird that loves a free, wander- ing life over the billows,— a damp, dark hole under- ground, and in the midst of a forest. But these extremes in habits make bird-study all the more lascinating. A more typical breeding-place is some such spot as another Seal Island.— this one off the coast of Maine. I was, with a friend, at Matinicus Island. Learning of this remarkable resort of the Petrels only seven miles away, we engaged a schooner to carry us there, leave us for the day, and take us off 124 Ocean Wa .^. RS J i at ni^ht. It was Bunker Hill Day, splendid weatner and a fine, fair breeze. We got aS c»rlv start, and in three^uarters of an hour, sailing " wing-a-wing," we were off the island, a grim- looking rock covered with greensward on top. a good half-mile long, and rather narrow. One of the crew rowed us ashore on the less precipitous w^tern side Even there it was not much sheltered, as the mainland was twenty miles away, and even in calm weather the sea broke not a little on the rocks. However, watching our chance, we managed to scramble out on a shelving ledge, immediately after which the retreating wave carried back the boat. The schooner departed for the fishing ground, while we scrambl«l up the rocks and bank to the summit oi the island. No sooner had we reached the turf than I noticed a little burrow, and my friend at the same moment another, and there they were all around us. The hole did not go straight down, but ran along just below the roots of the grass, for about a couplf of feet. Then it broadened out into a sort of pocket, in which, on a slight lining o. grass and feathers, sat a Leach's Petrel on a sin|le white egg. The Sird seemed dazed by the sudden glare of dly and d not make any effort to escape. When I took hold of It. It made just the least bit of a struggle, and squirted out fi-om its nostrils on niv hands a few drops of yeu jwish oil that gave forth a pecuhar, disagreeable odor. When I opened my hand. ,t d,d not make any attempt to fly off When placed on the ground, it rr. rely squatted, but 125 Among the Water-Fowl presently arose to a crouching attitude, and ran back into what was left of the hole. Then I eave it a toss into the air. and, after a little zigzag meander- ing over the grass and rocks, it seemed to get its beanngs, flew down in its usual irregular manner to the water, and disappeared ofl^" to sea, without show- ing any mchnation to return to the nest, nor did it that we could see, during the day. * We dug out a number of other burrows till we had seen enough to generalize the observations a little. We did not find more than one egg in any nest, and I do not know that ^ny such instance has ever been recorded. Sometimes there were two birds in a burrow, but in these cases the eze had not been laid. Two birds that I took in the act of incubation from difl=erent nests and kept as speci- mens pr ved to be males. Some observers have thought that the male usually incubates, but others are said to have found birds of either sex indifl=er- cntly thus engaged. The puzzle is what becomes of the ciher partner. Practically never is a Petrel to be seen by day about the breeding-grounds. At night, how- ever, the Petrels become active and noisy, twittering constantly, and flying to and fro from the sea We cannot assume that the other is in some hole near by. for all the birds found are incubating. The fact also that the males incubate precludes the possibility of their deserting their mates, as is the case with the Ducks. Until something to the contrary is shown, we evidently must be content with the old theory that one bird of each pair flies out to sea during the night, leaving the other on 136 .■'j4^,.* ^4 Ocean Wanderers duty till its return after the shadows have aeain tallen either to bring food and again depart, or else to take Its turn on the nest and let its mate eo loraging. * At the further end of the island we had noticed *" J u 7; V"^ ^^'*'' *'^*'"*' ^^^ ^«^"' 'o it. A lone and bold fisherman had ensconced himself with his family on lonely Seal Island for the season, where he was practically monarch of all he surveyed He told us that he remained there lobstering and fishine until about December. As he told of all the wild i wl he saw and shot during the fall, I almost envied him, except for his inability to view his advantages save from the culinary standpoint. Every bird was of interest only as it was good to eat In this connection he " drew the line " on the Petrels But he had a big Newfoundland dog that thought otherwise The owner told us that the animal tot his own living unaided, Petrels forming his chief provision. Practically the whole island was bur- rowed full of them, and, even while we were conversing, the dog would now and then paw out a burrow and eat a poor Petrel, feathers and all, with the egg for an appetizer ! The whole island smelt ot Petrels,— that peculiar, unmistakable odour. One would think that any vessel, passing anywhere to leeward of Seal Island, would get a whiff from that great hatching-coop of Mother Carey's Chickens. We passed the day very pleasantly, exploring caverns, hunting the cliffy on the seaward side for the nests of the Black Guillemot, inspecting also nests of Savanna Sparrows, Spotted Sandpipers, and also one of a pair of Barn Swallows, the latter built 127 lii Among the Water-Fowl on to the rock in a sort of open cave part way down the side of a deep rift,-!; case ofLersioJ to the original habit of the species. At sunset we mounted up on the highest part of the island, and Petri n ^° involuntary night-study of the Petrels. But at last, sail ho! In half an hour nrLnT T^T^. °^ '^' ^«^^"^' ^"d we were presently sailing back to Matinicus under the ^-Iver rays of the moon. At this visit the Petrels had just laid their eggs. Most of my other trips to their breeding-ground have been also at the laying-time, and I should never have known the quaintness of the young Petrels ex- cept for one delightful morning on Seal Island, Nova bcotia. This was in early September. From nearly every burrow mto which I inserted my arm -1 whether in pasture, woods or gravel-bank,--I drew out a young Petrel Some were completely feathered, and but for the down that still clung to the end.^ of die feathers, they might have been taken for adults. Others could not boast a single real feather yet were warmly clad in a dense gray down, a littk ighter in colour than the regular plumage. Between these extremes fhere were all stages But every youngster that I examined was fktier and heavier than an adult. There was not a parent with the young in any of the nests that we examined. The keeper of the light said that the old birds flew in th,!''^^ If v^'^^ y°""«- 'T^^' '^^y performed this duty well was evident enough. I could not but wonder, though, how late it would be in the Ocean Wanderers season before the young were all able to leave the nests Probably it is this tardiness that makes some of the fishermen believe that the Petrels hibernate m these burrows, and come forth in the spring sound and strong. ° But the Ocean Wanderers need not our theor- izing or assistance; they are a law unto themselves. We cannot hope to follow them in all their devious and trackless wanderings. Storms that destroy us are to them of little moment. For decades yet they will seek out their arctic and antarctic solitudes beyond our reach and ken. Yet though they regard us not, we shall know more of these wild, free roving creatures the more that we, like them love to be * " Rocked in the cradle of the deep." 124 PART IV THE WHITE -WINGED FLEET (Gulls and Terns) One beautiful summer morning, awaking to view again the splendid panorama of land and sea that IS spread out before the bluffs of Manomet we saw that during the night the mackerel -fleet had arrived. The sea for miles around was dotted with the white sails of the schooners, abort forty being in sight. With the gentle breeze they were tacking back and forth, each with its group of keen-eyed fishermen on deck. Now and then an agitated appearance at some spot on the ocean surface betokened the rising of a school of macke- rel. At once we would see seine-boats hurriedly launched, and rowed out by their crews to surround the wary fish. For two days the fleet remained making a scene of beauty and activity long to be remembered. Then we awoke to find that they had departed as suddenly as they had come, taking with them the charm that their presence had added to the surroundings. But there remained another white-winged fleet Beautiful Terns were flitting over the sparkling water and plunging headlong into it after an hum- bler finny prey. Before long the large white Gulls would come from the north, and patrol these shores in winter, when the Terns had sought a warmer chme. There is no class of birds more beautiful, 130 The White -Winged Fleet more interesting, more picturesque than these ex- quisite snowy -plumaged creatures, most of them pearly. mantled, that grace our lake and ocean GULL IN FLIGHT-PROBABLY THE WESTERN CULL. A WINC .TUDY BY OTTO VON BARGEN Shores. With easy flight they winnow the air, wheeling and circling even to the clouds. Some dart headlong to surprise the wary fish ; others float down like snow-flakes to take what the sea has 131 ill Among the Water Fowl cast up for them. Again, they gather together, either in buoyant flocks upon the water, or to dress their spotless plumage upon the strand. The loss would be unutterable were this fleet to be lost in the gale of fashion upon the cruel rocks of a selfish and senseless millinery decree. Social in disposition, it is the universal habit of these dainty creatures to resort together in large colonies at the nesting -season for the rearing of their young; and of all the picturesque spots on earth, I place in very high rank certain of these breeding-colonies. One there is in Nova Scotia, which seems to me to be particularly beautiful.' With two companions, I stood one clear, calm morning of early September, upon a wharf at Clarke's Harbor, Cape Sable Island, listening to the tale of woe of our would-be fisherman-skipper as he portrayed the impossibility of reaching Seal Island, twenty miles out to sea, against strong head tides, and with what little wind there was also con- trary. This was our last chance to make the trip and I could not bear to abandon it. So, after the prophet of evil had departed, I proposed that we start off without him in the twenty-three-foot sloop . It was slow work, but at length we sighted the rocky shores and spruce-grown area; and by sundown the sloop was anchored off a cove, and we were receiving the royal hospitality of kind-hearted John Crowell, the light-house keeper. Before sunrise next morning we were in the light-house tower. The cold, dark sea, foam-flecked, spread out beyond, the shores of Nova Scotia dimly visible to the northeast. Before us stretched the 112 The White -Winged Fleet over the spruces were snowy Herring Gulls perched upon .heir .ops, many other, were%lre,dy1!wTnt fncLZ \T i" '""-'"""'■■"g and'cackhng incessantly The sky was clear, and the east already rosy red, changing its hues moment by momenT as the sun approached the horizon. Ml a° once the glowing orb seemed to fairly bound from ,h! deep, and instantly the whole scene was wo"der! ously transformed. The ocean, recently so 3ark now ghttered and sparkled as with m^ad di,: mondsithe^ spruces reddened under their baptt, Gulls were gleams of living radiance. From the spruces ex- tended a long line of them in flight, going a mile or more out to some shoal water, where a large flock were rid- ing at anchor, and others were western culls, bv orro^;;;71irR^ grim rock of Cormorant-resort to the westward boked less forbidding in the glad sunsh" iaJ 133 Among the Water Fowl Wc lingered awhile, spell-bound at the vision ♦hen we started out with the keeper to see the uird- wonders at closer range. Black Guillemots bred abundantly in the crevices under the loose rocks that were piled up on the shores by the fury of the gales. The breeding-season was over, but some still sunned themselves on the rocks, or were swimming or diving off-shore. Crossing the sand- bar, where Yellowlegs, Turnstones, and Sandpipers fed, we inspected some of the abounding Petrels' burrows, and then turned our attention to the great colony of the island, that of the Herring Gulls. The usual custom of this species is to select or make a hollow in the ground, and build around it a nest of grass, feathers, and seaweed ; but some- times—on account of persecution, it is probable— they take to the trees. So it was here, to a large extent. Nearly all the nests were in the woods. Some of them were placed at the foot of trees, or under spreading spruce saplings, but most of them were built in the tops of the spruces which grew usually only about twenty or twenty- five feet in height. When the nests were on the ground they were generally rather sligl^t affairs, but on the trees they were very bulky platforms. The Gulls had brought load after load of grass and seaweed, till the mass was often large and firm enough to hold a man. At any rate some of them held me very comfortably while I gazed around over the floor-like top of the forest, and watched the Gulls wheeling about in the air. I could almost imagine how il felt to be a young Gull. Some of the nests were built in the upper crotch of the trees, others on »34 The White-Winoed Fleet By September the breeding ,emn i. nominally over, but on account of the pillaging of T. " by fishermen, there were .till a con.ider,ble number of the young Gulls not yet able to fly. They had all left the nests, having found some way, probably with the parents' help, of de- scending to the ground. It was a comical sight, those odd, mot- tled, partly downy, partly fledged, web- footed crea- ANOTIIIR rrUDY OP THI WISTBRN GOLL BY OTTO VOM BARGIN i«J'z,:^i*^ r.7.iri;jr.iK '^s":su''"'r- 'ti" "- . , iwuica crea- tures, as large as pullets, that were wandering about m the woods everywhere, pattering over the spruce- needle carpet, or else trying to hide by squatting under some bush or thick low growth. All the eggs were hatched that would do so, but now and then we found an addled one in the nest, a great dark drab aflPair, heavily spotted with black, larger than a hen's egg. I was struck with the similarity of the color and markings of the egg and of the young Gulls. I he smaller youngsters looked for all the world like eggs with stilts stuck into them below, and a neck 135 Among the Water Fowl inserted on the end. And how ridiculously those seeming eggs lying on the ground would suddenly arise and scurry oflf at such a rate that one had to be spry to catch them I The colors blend perfectly with their usual surroundings on a pebbly shore, and this is the protection that the plan of Nature aflPords to all young birds of this class. Long before they become white, they can care for themselves. A great many of the young Gulls had taken to wing, and large numbers of both dark, spotted young and snowy-plumaged parents everywhere we went were hovering overhead, often not more than fifty feet above us. Nor were they silent observers of our intrusion, for of all the noisy places on earth I do not know of anything that can equal a Gull- colony. Each bird seems to consider it a matter of Gull-morality to scream at regular intervals of not more than two seconds. When several hun- dreds, or thousands, are thus engaged, it would be deaf ears indeed that were not almost overpowered with the volume of sound. The first Herring Gull colony that I ever saw was on Great Duck Island, Maine. In a dense fog we beat to it from Mount Desert, and went ashore in the tender. The Gulls bred mostly on die ground here, but some had taken to the trees. This was early July, and the nests, probably having been robbed, still had eggs. For years I have loved to visit a fine colony of the Herring Gull on "No Man's Land," a lonely island far off the shores of Maine. Though the name truly represents its wildness, it is not accu- rate at the present time, for the island is under ^36 The White-Winged Fleet human owncr.hip, and the Gull.,-a8 now arc the Sw/? V* .°" "" '^"^ P""^'P*^ breeding, islands from Virginia to Maine,-are rigorously protected by law and by wardens. This is as it •OTHER, ''"^;;;«^.^^™N THE ,P«.CE.TRE„.. HE.R.NC C.XL.. '^ /'^ MAINE ISLAND COLONY. BY VV. L. BAILY should have been long before. "No Man's Land" .. another of the picturesque, rugged, spruce-clad .slands ,yp,cal of this coast. As »e app oach it we begm to see a horde of circling bfrds L": dreds of them gathered in groups on the rocks and others perched upon the spruce-trees. Then,' '37 Among the Water Fowl .'9' running the tender up on a ihelf of rock when the wave lervei, all the thousand and more great Gu|li hover screaming, or gather in groups on the dark trees, making a wonderful picture. Up- above the rocks there is an area of pasture where graze a flock of sheep, which have been ferried over here for the season to live and multiply,— if they can. Some fail, as their dead bodies show, and the Ravens have plenty ot wool with which to line their nests. All over the pasture, in all sorts of places, are the nests of the Gulls, deeply hollowed beds of seaweed, some quite slight, others substan- tial. Now we come upon one under a low spruce bush, then be- side a rock, or boldly out in the open. Then we extend our ram- h'.c into the spruce- woods, and here they are just the same, all about on the ground among the trees. But, strangely enough, on this island I have never yet found a nest on a tree, though I know that the birds have been considerably dis- turbed by the fishermen. Most of the nests, un- less marauders have been there, contain three eggs; often there are but two, and now and then four. They vary so greatly in ground-color and markings that it is fascinating to go all over the island and look at every nest that we can find. I recall one 1.18 'AM THI NUn or THi CULU." RUT Or HIR. RING CULL. MAINR. BY A. C. ■INT The White-Winoeo Fleet neit that had two very dark cggi, much the color of Loom . Not far from it was a let of three, two of which, save for a few iparie ipoti, were pale bluith green. Between thei^ types there are almost endless vpriations. Not mai., mil-rs roin here is Matinicus Rock, notable for it^ g-eut col.ny ot Arctic Terns. This "xt""^,.^/* """^ *^ '"'"'^ '''''^' ^^^ •P''"«s lend to No Man's Land. ' Its very aspect is of desola- tion, and a rtirinrkr of the terrors of the forces of Nature as displayed .n w.nd and storm. Even before we approac*. 'ose enough to see the birds, the keen ear can detect above the roar of the surf «jat monotone into which the thousands of grating Tern-crics unite at that distance. Then we can sec them in the air, and all over the old sca-bcat rocks, literally thousands of them. At the time of my last visit, several years ago, I should say that there were from three to five thousand Terns, and the number is said to be increasing, now that the keeper of the light has been made a game-warden, and depredations upon them have largely ceased. The keepers are very hospitable toward well- disposed people, and I have passed some very pleas- ant days there with them, studying the habits of the birds and looking at their eggs. It would hardly be correct to speak of nests, for few of them make what could by any charity be called such. Very many of the Terns lay on tW: bare rock, preferring, however, some little nook where a small quantity of soil or debris has found lodgement. Here and 139 f %' Among the Water Fowl there a little vegetation has taken hold,— a few spears of grass, or a little clump of weeds. A slight hol- low in such a place serves very well for a nest, and the addition of a few stems of grass or seaweed tucked around it for a rim, answers to give the owner the distinction of a wealthy house-owner and tax - payer. Whether the distinction will ordinarily hold or not, I cannot say, but the Arctic Terns of this colony, and of others that I have visited, lay gener- ally but two eggs, while with the Common or Wil- son's Tern three is the ordinary number. On one occasion, when I looked the island over pretty care- fully, and inspected hundreds and hundreds of sets of eggs, only about a dozen contained three eggs, and none more; the rest two each. There is the usual interesting variety in the colors and markings of these eggs that there is in those of other Terns and Gulls, nor is there any perceptible difference between the eggs of the va- rious species of Terns of the size of the Arctics. In these colonies I always like to look for oddly marked or colored eggs, and among so many some very strange types are found. On this island one season I found two eggs in a little hollow of the rock that were of a clear light blue ground-color, with only a few sparse spots. The next year, in the very same place, were two precisely similar eggs. A daughter of one of the keepers gave me a plain bluish green egg without a single spot, which she had found in a previous season. The Terns were all over the Island, except at the southeast corner, near the cluster of buildings ; 140 The White-Winged Fleet but within a hundred feet or so of these we began to see eggs. The birds kept up their clamor all the time, and hundreds were ever in the air; but when we came from the buildings and began to invade the territory which they regarded as their own, practically the whole colony rose and hovered about, redoubling their vociferations. Now and then one would swoop close to our heads, evidently the owner of the eggs over which we were stepping. And so it is at all Tern colonies. It is bewildering, and always fascinating. No matter how many colo- nies I have visited, I am always ready to see another. The whole surroundings, of birds, and rock or sand and ocean impresses one with the vitality of unal- loyed Nature, a scene of abounding, exuberant life. How eagerly the faithful custodians of the lights on these lonely isolated spots look forward to the return of the birds, we may readily imagine. Were there no other calendar, the Terns could quite accurately supply one. They are very regular in their coming. At the time of my last visit the keeper told me they arrived in a large body that year on May 14, and laid the first eggs on the 28th. The season preceding, their date of arrival was May 17, and from these dates, I am told, there is little variation. He did not have the exact dates of de- parture, but from my observation with other colo- nies I should say it was not later than early Septem- ber, As soon as the young are on the wing, they begin to scatter, and when the tardier ones can fly, they are soon gone. In one colony I found a few young on the rocks the first of September. But before that month has sped most of the Terns have HI Among the Water Fowl left the New England shores, though some linger later, and I once saw a Tern-of the common species I took it to be-on Christmas day. The common or Wilson's Tern is our most abundant species, very similar in habits and appear- ance to the Arctic Tern. It was years before I could tell them apart, and no one can always fe -1 sure. The former kind has a paler bill, with black at the tip, while the bill of the Arctic is all of a dark coral red, and its breast is usually darker than that of Its relative. What a delightful panorama it brings to niy mind to recall the various breeding colonies of this species that I have visited ! Some were on various rocky islands of the coast of Maine, and suggest scenes of sunshine and fog, breeze and storm, wave and calm ; others were at the Magda- len Islands— small groups of a dozen pairs or so on numerous lit- tle islands in the ponds, and es- pecially one great area of sand between the outer beach and the lagoon, where nests were scattered along for miles, con- j . , . structed with all grades of mechanical art, from a bare hollow in the sand to a substantial bed of grass or seaweed. Along the beach at this locality were feeding im- mature Herring, Great Black - backed, Glaucus, 142 •COWTRUCTBD WITH ALL GRADES OF MECHANICAL ART. FROM A BARB HOLLOW IN THE 8AND." NEST OF COMMON TERN, MAGDALEN ISLANDS The White-Winged F LEET 'TO A SUBSTANTIAL BEU OF GRASS. " ANOTHCK NEST OF COMMON TERN, MAGDALEN ISLANDS and Bonaparte's Gulls, whose presence certiinly enlivened the scene for me. Off the southern shores of Massachusetts there are various sandy islands on which these Terns and others breed. One of these others, not yet spoken of, is the beautiful Rose- ate Tern, very similar in appear- ance and habit, breeding near and even among the other spe- cies, but distinguishable by its slender form and long tail, and a very white breast, that in the right light shows a beautiful pink blush of a most delicate hue. Any adjectives that I could use would be far inade- quate to describe the grace and beauty of the Roseate Tern. In the sa.-ne habitat, from Massachusetts south- ward, is found that dainty little sylph, the Least Tern. I first saw it along the broad, lonely ocean beaches of the "back-side" of Cape Cod. There, as we walk along, several little Terns, much smaller than the other kinds, hov r rather high over or beyond us, uttering their shrill staccato "yip, yip, yip." After a good deal of tramping, keeping our eyes painfully upon the blinding glare of the dry, sandy expanse back from high-water mark, we may now and then detect two, or occasionally three, little eggs that look almost exactly like the mottled peb- H3 Among the Water Fowl bles, lying in a slight hollow that is unlined, except sometimes for a scant bed of little chips of mussel- shell. These are the Least Terns' nests. Previous to the departure of the Terns from us in the autumn, they are everywhere flitting about our shores and bays, following up the schools of small fish and resting on sandbars, fiats, or even boats, buoys or fishermen's traps. Old and young are inter- mingled, and they are tame and gentle. To bays where there is good fishing they will resort daily, flying out seaward at night. The Herring Gull is the only true Gull that nests on the coast of Maine. From Massachus- setts southward the Laughing Gull nests spar- ingly on sandy islands and marshes, often near colonies of Terns. The other species of the Gulls are more northerly than either of the above. Im- mature individuals linger far south of the breed- ing-range of the species. So when one sees more or less mottled Great Black backed, Glaucus, or Bonaparte's Gulls in summer, do not imagine that their nests can be discovered by any amount of search. Early autumn begins to bring the Gulls to us 144 ■ THREE LITTLE EGC8 THAT LOOK ALMOST EXACTLY LIKE THE MOTTLED PEBBLES, LYING IN A SLIGHT HOLLOW THAT IS UNLINED. EXCEPT SOMETIMES FOR A SCANT BED OF LITTLE CHIPS OF MUSSEL- SHELL." NEST OF LEAST TERN. BY W. H. FISHER The White -Winged Fleet from the north. By the middle of August, among flocks of Terns we can often pick out a bird or two of heavier build, square tail, and slower flight that proves to be Bonaparte's Gull in winter dress, without the striking black hood. By September or even earlier, our familiar Herring Gull begins to return south from the breeding-grounds. If we look carefully we may notice a very similar Gull u? u '^ ""^*^ smaller, known as the Ring-bill, which, in the coast-region, goes in sjummer far to the north. In late fall the beautiful Kittiwake becomes abundant well off shore on the fishing- grounds, and the big fellows appear,— the Great Black-backed, which becomes fairly common, and the rare Glaucus Gull, or Burgomaster. I well remember when I first saw the "Burgo- master" alive. I was watching a flock of Herring Gulls feeding just off one of the Boston docks in midwinter, when I became aware of the presence of a larger individual, a magnificent Gull, white all over, without even the black wing-tips of the others. With them it was hovering, wheeling, and alighting to pick up morsels from the water, no more fearful than they. There was no doubt as to what It was, and I watched it for an hour before It went down the bay. Its spread of six feet across the wings gave it an impressive appearance. This is the size- also of the Great Black-backed Gull, that is also known as Turkey Gul', Minister Gull, and by other names. The black plumage of Its upper parts in contrast with the pure white below makes it, in the adult phase, very conspicuous. But It is one of the shyest of birds. The Herring HS Among the Water Fowl and Ring-billed Gulls arc ordinarily shy enough, except by wharves, where they seem to know that there is no ihppfjng allowed. But the sable-backed fellow never t'elenti. I have, in years past, ex- hausted all my ingenuity in vain efforts to get near one. A good glass, however, makes even these va- rious large shy Gulls seem near, and I love to watch and study them upon our coasts in winter under the various conditions: on restless wing and with keen vision scouring the ocean for food, tack- ing in the teeth of the winter's gales; settling in flocks upon the wind-swept sea, out beyond the breakers; gathering on the beaches and flats when the tide goes down, where they walk about with sedate bearing, and stoop to conquer the juicy bivalves or the luckless crustacean; sitting on the edge of some field or drifting cake of ice, the very incarnation of Boreas. These are all typical sights. To study the Gulls further, let us make a jour- ney in thought, westward to North Dakota, that paradise of water-fowl. There I will introduce the reader to some islands in a large lake. They are nothing but small, low, rocky shoals, of very little beauty in themselves. But I call them "The En- chanted Isles," for there are more kinds of water- birds breeding on them than on any other small area that I have ever seen. It was only accidently that I learned of their whereabouts three years ago, through one who, not a bird-student, tarried awhile in this, the lake region of North Dakota. In all 146 The White-Winged Fleet morning e^„,„, bright. T;o oT/,' ,h. c' wctc and we had come two thousand mile, to 7er,he b^rd, „.k,„g headquarter, in a small .hack cTtW pt" r the"'! V"'' "' '° -"""' '"•" ftv,™ k ., * "'*'"'' "«« •bout eight mile, from here, and at .even in the morning we .t^r 1h over the praine m our boat that wa, propeUed bv a„°r"''°""i- '^J"^'' °' hunting-dog.'^fXwed u^ ucce«fu M " *" ''"" "«• *« 1""' "as neve? .uccewful. Not even the greyhound .eemed able 1 , ■•"'u'' * "•^"""I""' runner a, "J«k •• ,o ong of hmb and nimble. On the.e drive, we' now and then saw a badger by it. hole, or a gaunt eZ coyote, or prairie woH, loping over the prafrie stoppmg now and then to look back at u.. "^ ' ho we drove along, exhilarated by the wild .ce- rZu "" P™f'«. »"<' the cri.p, .Lulating air h«th ^"^/^ ''■"• "" nnloaded our boat on 'he off, heading for one of the four low island, that lay over a mile out in the lake. A. it b«ame wlTdou ^iro"""",; *' !"' •«"• o"''^" '» were dots all over the rocks, that I knpw »« k mamly Ring-biHed Gull,, and 'rot'of wrob^ect: H7 Among the Water Fowl * fl: that represented a fine colony of Double-crested Cormorants. The latter were squatting or standing upon their nests that were placed as close together as possible, resembling in the distance troops of soldiers in martial array. When we approached within quarter of a mile they began to fly off in detachments of a dozen or so at a time, to alight out in the lake and watch us. Then the Gulls began to get uneasy and at length, with a great fluttering, the whole colony rose. The air was filled with beating white wings and with an almost deafening clamor. There is no bird more capable of noise than a large Gull, and every one on this island per- formed faithfully its part. Then we landed, and no sooner had ad- vanced a few steps from the water's edge than we were in the midst of eggs of the Gulls. The island's sur- face was more or less covered with loose stones, with some grass growing on the summit. The Gulls' nests were anywhere and everywhere, among the stones, besides clumps of weeds, in the grass, rather slight affairs consisting of a rim of dry grass or weed that seemed to deepen the slight hollow in the ground, which was lined with a few feathers. 148 ^'r^.' ..' '/r. " NO SOONER HAD WB ADVANCED A FEW tTKPS FROM THE WATER'S EDGE THAN WB WERE IN THE MIDST OF EGGS OF THE GULLS." NEST OF RING BILLED GULL The White-Winoed Fleet Nearly all the nests had three eggs, but occasionally there were but two. ' The island was very small, hardly more than an acre in extent, so that it was not hard to estimate the population. We counted just about an even hundred nests with eggs, besides a number more that were empty. Some had probably been robbed, and I think it safe to say that there were three hun^ dred birds belonging on this island. There was about one pair of Herring Gulls for ten of Ring-bills. The eggs of all had evidently been laid the mid- dle of May and there were no young yet hatched. Meanwhile we had also investigated the homes of the Cormorants, and a most interesting sight it was. The nests were good-sized platforms, built very ingeniously of crooked sticks that were so in- terwoven that the nests were often substantial enough to be lifted up without falling apart. In fact, we once found a nest on the shore of the mainland that had either been carried or drifted there, and yet There were seventy - three nests in about equal areas, one down by the other well up on the higher part of but not far away. In each area the 149 THE NESTS WERE GOOD- SIZED PLATFORMS. BUILT VERY INGENIOUSLY OF CROOKED STICKS ' NESTS OF DOUBLE -CRESTED CORMORANT3. THE NEAR- EST HAS IN IT TWO NAKED BLACK YOUNG THAT HARDLY SHOW IN THE PICTURE was intact, all, in two shore, the the j'iland. Among the Water Fowl ncstg were placed touching one another. Nearly all of them held three or four very rough - looking, dirty white eggs, that teemed to be covered with a sort of chalky deposit, which can be scraped oflF, when a harder bluish shell is exposed. In one nest there were six eggs, and on previous visits I had seen seven and eight. Many of the eggs seemed fresh, but in a few cases one or two young had hatched. I doubt if there is in bird-world any- thing uglier than a young Cormorant, blind and naked, with a slimy looking black skin. My companion and the guide now rowed oflF to the next island, while I remained to see what I could do at photographing the Ring-billed Gulls, which I noticed settled on their nests whenever we kept out of sight. I selected a spot where there were a num- ber of nests quite close together, just above the top of the beach. Here was, a sort of windrow of stones, piled up by the waves, just near enough to the nests to be useful. Removing some of the stones, I made a level spot for the camera, focused it so as to take in half a dozen of the nests, cov- ered it with the cloth, attached the spool of strong thread and set the shutter, then piled up stones around and upon it, except in front. Carefully I unwo'^nd and laid the thread along the beach nearly the whole length of the 200-yard spool. To where the thread ended I brought the old sail, and lay down under it. After some hovering the Gulls began one by one to alight, until at last there seemed to be quite a number of them in front of the camera. I was too far away to see just when things were at their best; but, as general conditions 150 **c«ocorr mkhution tbt cnait (ANSI and ISO TEST CHAUT No. 2) Itt U I ■» I B I u 1^ IJ^ ■ U 23 2.2 Aiii I 1.6 A /IPPLED IM/OE Ine 1SS3 Emt Main Stnst Rochml»r, N«. Yofk 1460« us» (716) «2 - 0300 - Phon. (718) 2M-MS9-Fa« ;! I Among t ie Water Fowl were propitious, I drew in what slack there was and pulled the thread taut. The Gulls showed no signs of having heard the shutter, but it had sprung all right I found when I walked up. In the same manner I pro- ceeded with the work, taking a few more shots from the same position, then focusing on a single nest at close range, or on a couple of nests, and again on a rock where the Gulls frequently alighted. In the latter case I got a fine exposure on two birds on top of the rock. The Gulls soon became much more confident, and would return to their nests as soon as I retired, often standing so near the camera as to brush against it. Of course the exposures had to be instantaneous, and cloud areas bothered me a good deal. The Cormorants proved to be too shy to be photographed. When the boat returned with accounts of wonderful finds on the other islands, all too soon for me, I had what proved later to be a very interesting series of Gull pictures, the fruits of a hard day's work. If anyone thinks it easy, I would like to put him on a glaring beach in a broil- ing sun, without a trace of a breeze, surrounded 152 THEN FOCUSING ON A SINGLE NEST AT CLOSE RANGE RING-BILLED GULL ON NEST The White-Winged Fleet by bird-filth and swarms of insects anH c' u nests of some rather shy gX and came", t bim try ,t, and see if he could keeo hTV ' mile away. There we had enough to oc- cupy us the rest of the day. These islands were each con- siderably larger than the other, and were teem- ing with bird- life. The first of them had on it quite a colony of Common T*»rno ^u a much larger one oiT^Z ^f'''\^^^ ^^^^ond ■t C-T.?i- -?}\^' -u;r; among the stones, and in .he grass Wc oho.o' was well that we did it early, for about the middle of the afternoon the sky grew very dark ,nA <"nou, rain set in. FortLftely, .?J"tnV- '53 Among the Water Fowl Mil i 'I!' pared for it, with coats and boots. We turned the boat partly over, put our cameras and accessories under it, and took refuge there ourselves. It was a fine outlook over the storm -swept lake. The rain, pouring down on its surface, splashed up jets and bubbles, and made the whole sheet of water white in its agitation. Frequently what amounted to almost a cloudburst would occur, and everything would be shut out from view, nothing remaining visible over the lake but a blinding sheet of de- scending water. This was very picturesque, and we enjoyed it for awhile ; but when the moments grew to hours without a sign of slacking it began to get monotonous. Finally, at half-past six, we buttoned up our coats, covered up our cameras in the rub- ber cloths, and pulled out into the storm. Fortu- nately, the rain soon ceased, and after dark we reached the hospitable Dakota shack none the worse for a little wetting. A week later we made still another visit to our enchanted islands. We began at the one not yet visited, and found there the usual pleasing variety of water fowl, and good colonies of Terns and Ring- bills. Then we rowed to the third island. Terns and Gulls filled the air, and Ducks flew squawking away. It was a fine day, and I set the camera for a view of Gulls on the rocks, getting two expo- sures after a vexatious delay caused by one of the company innocently walking through my invisible line of thread, and getting it all tangled up in the weeds. Then, after photographing some nests, I tried my luck on the Terns. There were hosts of them all ovc the island, and they made a prodig- IS4 The White-Winged Fl EET lous and unceasing fuss over my presence, going on to their nests awhile, and flying up again with- out any seeming provocation. At first I thought that the task I ® had grappled with so confi- dently would find the day too short for its ac- complishment. I set the camera in the sand, or grass, by shelter- ing clumps of weeds, near two or three nests, but the hovering birds provoking- ly would not go on, and I could not aflFord time for an indefinite wait. At last I noticed a set of two eggs that were pipped, and I certainly thought she did. With the thread in hand I lay do- n on the sand about fifty yards away. Within five minutes she alit close to the nest, and I got a picture, and soon another, as she was covering her Quite a few of the Gulls' eggs had hatched. The young were skulking among the weeds and •I THED MY LUCK ON THE TERK8." YOUNC COM- HON TBRN Among the Water Fowl I ilii I ji! stones, or had betaken themselves, in small part- ies, for a swim out on the lake. Here I had if more impressed upon me than ever that these beautiful and in- nocent - appear- ing species of the Laridae are not always in con- duct what we might expect from appear- ance. I noticed quite frequently that some Tern or Terns would angrily d i / e down at a young Ring-bill out op the water, and strike it some pretty hard blows. One of my friends, who returned there later in the sea- son, saw Terns again and again strike a young Gull till the in- nocent head fell, 'AND SOON ANOTHER. AS SHE WAS COVERING HER EGGS'* A t-U U* J I THE SAME TERN AS IN ABOVE ILLUSTRATION ZliCi tlie DirCl lay • WITHIN FIVE MINUTES SHE ALIT CLOSE TO THE NEST " COMMON TERN, ABOUl TO SETTLE UPON HER EGGS 156 The White-Winged Fle ET dead on the water. I also noticed, when I first visited the Cormorant island, that when the Cor- morants were frightened off their nests, before they would return, the Gulls settled down upon their homes, and ate a number of the eggs. I have already re- corded the case of the Frank- lin's Gull plun- dering the Grebe's nest, and it is evi- dent that such deeds of vio- ence are a fam ily trait among our beautiful and interesting friends. B u t with all their faults we shall continue to love them, and refrain IrtLtSmetTs.'^" ^^"^"^ ^P-' ''handsome THE YOUNG WERE SKULKING AMONG THE WEEDS AND STONES- YOUNG «1NCBIU,E™cUU: Among all birds, I do not know of a more beautiful species than the Franklin's Rosy Gull It IS of medium size, resembling Bonaparte's Gull in having a black hood, as it were, over the head and the upper neck, with pearl-grey upper parts; but the under portions, which are white, have added a beautiful rosy blush. They are said 'to breed from Dakota northward to the Arctic sea. Besides being »S7 w i ! ■•■; II 1: ' Among the Water Fowl beautiful, they arc interesting in being illusive. All over the prairies they straggle, in small groups or in large Jlocks. The settlers call them "Prairie Pigeons," and I know of no more unique and beautiful sight than to sec a small army of them follow the farmer as he ploughs, dropping into the newly turned furrow behind him like snow-flakes, to pick up the worms and grubs that are exposed to view. In places, especially near their breeding grounds, I have seen the prairie fairly white with them. But their breeding grounds?— that is the ques- tion. It is their habit, according to accounts, to congregate in immense numbers in some large shallow lake and build floating nests amid the grass and reeds that grow out of the water. There are certainly not many of these colonies within our borders. Th^re may not be more than one or two in all Dakota, in spite of the fact that so many birds are wandering about. Many a time I have watched them as they came drifting over the prairie, ever on the move, and have longed to know whither they were journeying. I could not locate their breeding ground from the direction of their flight, so I wrote to diflFercnt parts of the state, and questioned every Indian or hunter that I met' but it was of no use. ' At length, through hearsay and rumor, I traced out the fact that a year or two before great num- bers of these Gulls had nested in a large, deep slough, north of Devil's Lake. The Sioux Indians, It was said, were accustomed to go there and cart away eggs by the bushel. I reached the spot after 158 ! !P The White-Winoed Fleet Gull, had been «. persecuted that they had not returned A,t.ea.on but had moved off .omewhere w«adI^H T- ""^ '•'"PPointing. >nd to thi, trial was added being caught on the return trip in the wisn to be. The wind blew over houses, and the ram almost filled the body oj the wagon. If eter llrT^^^'^ "T """• ^' had%o sleep in a already been in vain. for the Frankhn's Gull, and when I decided last season to visit Dakota again, I redoubled my in aby had the desired information. Imagine my delight when I received one day a note to the effect Fr,nti- ^"7 n ' ^'!«' "°*°"y °^ thousands of the Franklin s Gull and would guide me there if I would come to his house. At the earliest possible moment we started ofl. ,r^ °i "'' T'\ '''°""°' ^"^ buckboard,-thi nme without the boat,-for the drive of fifty mii.s The site the Gulls had chosen was at one end o? a large lake a number of miles long. At length we approached the timber on its margin. On the left a settler was ploughing, and about twenty Gulls were following him close behind, and feeding in the furrows On the right, down a steep bankjiy the lake a long area, over a mile wide, with sime tracts. The distant murmur of many bird-voices 159 ■ I ^ "- ^ \ N, 4 » 4 1. r. i6o The White-Winoed Fleet 'hTcun. Zu"'- '"■' "' ""'<' »« hundred, of R„ K t" °"' °«'' '*" ■"'<•<"« •■' the lake By the „me the other, had pi.ched c. „p i„ ,he ofwhich" Vr* «"'''' ""'' ' '""' »«u Ja boa, "h4h ,h'e%ra"r'we''o"' 1 """' °"'' P"""^ ,nj k ■ * ' passed various Coot, nesti quarter:* •?""" "' ^"^'' "T""'. when aSou wa e we \^ °>". """"g > wide lane of open wacer, we approached a tract of th^ i^ Ser^lnThet'-N [ « "^"^^ r ,^r- L?ir -^^^^^^^^ .ho'usS. Thfclr of "th^'n"" "' •"""• ^"• •hose farther along IS eve'n^: roffrrr ;^„ce we could see clouds of fluttering white v^nt The nearer one, immediately came toward u? and hovered screaming over our heads. The scene a. :Vone""t"e°' '"'' ^ —ned/r'the' witnessed that could rival Bird Rock. At times ?art of the mul- titude would come together in an unusually compact mass, and circle about us. Here were ';^o=— ----^^«3 the nests rude floating platforms of dead ^rass stems, only slightly hollowed, a 'ew feet i6i or Among the V^ater Fowl yards apart, everywhere through the gran. The date wai the 25th of June, and moit of the eggi had hatched. Tiny young Gulli in a mottled, downy plumage were paddling through the grass in all directions. Our conductor had been here about the 25th of May and had found all the nests I : I li II I PAIR or FRANKLIN'S CULU ON THEIR NEST. WHICH CONTAINS ONE EGO- TWO OTHER ECC8. PROIABLY. HAD HATCHED AND THE YOUNO SWUM OFF with full fresh sets, usually of three eggs. Very few nests now had three, but quite a number had one or two, probably either second layings or where part of the set had hatched and the young had swum off. The eggs were like those of all Gulls in color and markings, in size about half way between the eggs of the Common Tern and the Ring -billed 162 The White. Winded Fleet Gull. One of .he firit nem we noticed had two egg. notably .mailer than any o( the other. We thought there might be a p.ii- of Bonaparte', Guilt among the Franklin'., but to our eye. ^he excited hovenng creature, all looked exactly a ike They 7^1^'"","'". """"'*' *"' ob-ervation. hoverhtg feark..ly only a few yard, away from us. * vve .pent three more day. bv and rnnnn^ .v.. ob."""' '"'^ "I'P"' ''"■'y •hower'.. I w,T able t l^!ime.Tt frL'"'' ""■" "'y .«i.famrily At time. I took the boat alone, and quietly floated .n the gra... with ne.t. all around me TbelievTl could ,tay there for week, and enjoy a,,ocTaI.W with those beautiful bird,. They were ,oZf the camerl h,M '' u°°? """"" »"»P-'"°'» "-'h inrnK ?• '" ?'' '""'''• ^ome of them were ncubating many other, .tanding on empty ne„7 rom which the young had .w^m off, usually ,o return a. won a, confidence w„ re,tor;d Sut 1° ,11 ^^„" / ""''' ^'"^'' *« young were not' a all particular a, to ju„ which „e,t thty rewrted to Some mother, would have but one chick other, « time, hal a dozen. Often the "one ewe Iamb" would ,w.m off to another ne,t, to be Z a, W pitabty entertained. I„ ,ome cases the old bird would fly at the departing youngster and make rTJr V^' ' ^°"^'^ '"■" *« 'he tribe, to a Now and h "'"'- "*""^ '" *ing, common.'' Now and then group, of the adults would gather n a ht tie open pool of water and swim about bw •he nests seemed to be the especial places X'sor" i6j i; It t II 164 The White-Winged Fleet fn^ZcmlT^n"'- r,'""' ""■"''"« <" 'he col- A FRANKLINS CULL FAMILY SCENE a rough and very conservative estimate wrpia«d l6j I ll I Among the Water Fowl the probable number of Gulls at about five thou- sand, though one of the party thought it was nearer ten thousand. Whatever it was it is a won- derful sight and those days spent there in camp will be of fragrant memory. At night I would look out over the moon-lit expanse and hear the clamor of the colony that appeared to cease not day nor night. Possibly at night the Musk-rats or Minks were disturbing them. This lake was a wonderful center for bird-life Besides Coots^ Rails, Night Herons, Bitterns, large numbers of Ducks, and about a thousand of vari- ous kinds of Grebes, some tof them in colonies, we estiniated that there were something like a thousand Black Terns breeding. These we found hovering m flocks wherever we went in the area of water- growing grass that extended in a wide border out from the shore all around the lake as far as we went. It was not hard to find their nests, which were little mounds floating in partial open- «rocc Tk ^"Ss amid the grass. They were not close together, but in oc- casional little communities, being placed there a tew yards, or even rods, apart, perhaps a dozen or so to a group. Two eggs are usually laid, some- i66 *'IT WAS NOT HARD TO FIND THEIR KBITS. WHICH WERE LITTLE MOUNDS FLOATING IN PARTIAL The White-Winged Fle ET the fashion of their family ^ ' ^^ bird made at me with We^miJht wr*"" At first I laughed, but I had on only a very thi^ can and having to hold up my boot-top, all Ae ," e f could not protect myself. Finally my head D^ned me so that it„as no laughing ma«er,^and I actudlv the boat -1 Zr'''"''^\"'"" -" ^''™" '^° ^'.: r'biirra^t-- ij-rfhafj could not be angrv at fh#. i;Vfi- l . ' * mirpH K«, ^^ ""^^ mother, but ad- 167 Among the Water Fowl have I approached a grassy slough in the breed- ing-scason without finding them in evidence, and wherever one drives on the bare dry prairie, sooner or later the little dark friend is almost sure to put m an appearance. For convenience, though it is not scientifically one of the Gulls, I may, in this connection, speak of a bird that is related to them, and in some ways resembles them,-the great White Pelican. I have never discovered their breeding-place in Dakota, which is said to be some low island in a lake where they lay three or four great white eggs in a hollow in the sand. But We found them frequent- ing most of the i rge lakes that we visited. The size of the bird is impressive. I think that, per- haps excepting the Swan, it is decidedly the biggest bird of North America. It is nearly as tall as a man, has a stout, heavy body, and enormous bill, and a stretch of wings of betwe n eight and nine feet. Riding out on the lake, they look almost like yachts at anchor. Such size makes them ap- pear near even when they are really far out from shore. It was a fine sight one day when I saw seventy of them in a V-shaped flock, soar over a lake and circle down till they rested upon the water. One of our company was anxious to secure a Pehcan for his cabinet, and at last he saw a chance to approach one perched on a rock a little way out in the lake. A calf that was determined to follow him and see the sport very nearly prevented his success, but he managed to stalk and secure the great bird. It was a sight indeed to see him i68 The White-Winged Fleet "turn (o camp with the load upon hi, back When he photographed hi, booty, hanging by the r"^ovfd:^^e•;:"-;:^ed"t rr^^^^^^^ to make a good-sized blanket. ^ ' 169 M PART V WILD-FOWL OF WILD-FOWL (Ducks and Geese) Though the term wild-fowl is variously and loosely applied, there is no class of birds it better fits in Its suggestive savor of wild, free Nature than that called by naturalists the "Anatida '' Whatever are or are not wild-fowl. Ducks and Geese are. There are few birds that reveal more their inherent wildness in retiring before the advances of human civilization. How often has my gaze wandered wistfully over the surface of some beautiful New England lake, searching for what was not there, some water-fowl floating upon the surface. There were the lilies, the woods, the surrounding hills,-all the elements of a beau- tiful landscape, save this alone,-and a sad lack It is. But in some of the newer states of the north- west It IS very different. There man has been too busy in reclaiming and beautifying his own home- spot to disturb the innocent home-life of his wild- fowl neighbors. None of my many bird-adventures have made deeper impression upon me than those of my first season spent in studying the breeding habits of the Ducks and Geese in the Dakota wilds. Though I had read wonderful tales of that region's bird-life It proved to be one of those pleasant surprises, all too uncommon, where the actual equals expecta- 170 WiiD-Fowj. OP Wild-Fowl road in^Z/hT t*' "'T'"''"". "" « branch rail- .Tw ,h" Duct, fl ""' " '/""'' ""y ''""""ion I tL?llu ^^'. ®° "^*'" were they to the train by Krrh' "* ,"" "•""•'»« ""-• Cl- oy me humble home of a settler, on the rieht wa. a imle pond covering less than an acre ofTourd convenient for his cattle An,( .k "^ "' g_™>"ia, About six miles further on we approached the house where we were to stay over nig^*^ Here too a pond was prominent, right by the turn of T; driveway, and it, likewise, had its Ducks ttemvnr uTe^ed^hi^"; ^ "^''^^ -nding^on'thTXe uttered his customary note of alarm, and they were loLVrl tt '"^ "^ .^°°'^^ ^-'^ '--" and alit p '^ r'" '«^^"' ^^^^"^ ^''•cled back thl. , ?"" '^"^ parlor-window I could see them so clearly with the glass as to be able Ito iden! *7> Among the Water Fowl tify every one, and note each motion. Some were padaiing about, others were pluming themselves on the shore, but they all kept in pairs, as they did also when they flew. Among them was one pair of Green- vinged Teal, a species that is very scarce in Dakota in the breeding season. The next morning I was out at the break of day, even before it was light enough to see the birds. I soon found a series of small sloughs which were just full of Ducks. Each slough that I ap- proached gave forth a score or so of searchers for breakfast and the early worm. That unfortunate creature this morning must have felt sluggish and indisposed, for it had been cold enough during the night to skim the sloughs over with ice near the shores. The muddy flats had also an icy crust, and my first exploit while trying to wade one was to trip on this crust and pitch headlong. To save myself, I naturally put out mv arms, and in up to the shoulders they went in the cold, wet ocze! The Ducks quacked loudly, as if mocking, and I fear I should have lost my temper, but for so many inter- esting things that mnde wet clothes and a mud- plaster trifles not worthy of interrupting the pleasant cliain of thought. A walk of about a mile from here brought us to a larger and more open lake. Large flocks of Ducks of various kinds were resting upon its surface, and a pair of Great Marbled Godwits were feeding on the prairie i ;ar the margin. A very tall bird stood on the shore, with long neck extended, taking note of our approach. We thought it was a Sand-hill Crane, but, when it swam out into the lake, we perceived 172 173 « Eil Amono the Water Fowl that it wa- a Canada Goose. Wc learned from a neighboring settler that Geese usually bred in the vicinity, so we began the exploration of an adjacent large tract of rushes, back from the shore, hoping to discover the nest of this bird. The search at length brought me out to the shore again, near a projecting point of land. As I came around the rather steep shore of the point, what was my amaze- ment to come right upon a flock of Geese sitting on the beach, not twenty paces off. Eighteen of them were the common wild Canada Goose; the other four were beautiful creatures, snow-white all over, save for the black outer half of th wings- Snow Geese— one of the last of the migratory flocks that had been pouring through the state on their way to th* far north. It is hard to tell which felt the more surprise, the Geese or the intruder. For an instant they stood as though paralyzed, then sprang into the air and flew off with loud honkings. The Snow Geese went by themselves out over the lake and the others made a circle or two till they had mounted quite high, and then, in their usual wedge-shaped order, steered their course for the north. Just a week later, with the same companion, I started out on a six-weeks' camping tour. Two fine horses drew a stout open double buggy, on the back part of which was loaded a tent and a complete camp outfit. We drove forty miles north and west that first day, and at night, as it began to rain, in- stead of pitching the tent, we secured permission to sleep in the hay-loft of a two-story frame barn be- longing to a Norwegian family— the only barn, save ^74 Wild-Fowl op Wild-Fowl •hacki, that wc had seen in many milei. There we made ounelvei comfortable, getting .upper with our ittleoil jtove and then turning in for re.t. It mu.t be confewed that our sleep was none of the •oundeit. Down below were cows and calves, horses and colts, pigs and sheep, dogs and poultry, and noises of various kinds were incessant. Around u. rats were perambulating, and a cat was making suc- vo rln I" '^'^ 'r^ '° *^'"^' ^W»<^ ^ »hrill. dently decided that sleep was not to be allowed. All night the rain poured down on the roof like kLT iS.*^^' *"** ^" '*^" "'°'""^"« continued una- d«?o; .7*'^'T"."°'*''"« '° ^° *»"' '"^k^ another m?n? i '*'*"" ^'"'^ P'°'P^^^- My disappoint- ment, however, was tempered by the fact that the evening before we had passed a small slough, only fun TT'l "*^c ^'T '^' ^»^"' '^^' •"'"-d 'to be full of Ducks. So, after breakfast, I donned boots and mackintosh, and set out for it with one of the Norwegian boys, who told me that last year a pair of wild Geese had raised a brood on top of a Musk- rat house in this slough, and that he thought they r^n ^^'"V^'**"- As we approached a whole cloud ^?A^r^\ l^' '"^ ^ "°'^"^ ™*"y interesting Waders along the margin. The first thing was to look for the Goose nest. I waded out, up to my boot-tops to the several "houses," but there was no sign of It. Then we took a turn along the shore passing through a tract of reeds up from the edge.' Suddenly, without warning, a female Pintail fluttered out almost from under our feet and rapidly disap- pcared in the blinding rain. In a little hollow, shel- 175 Among the Water Fowl tercd by the rcedi, the had built her neit of reed- •tcmi and grass, lined profusely with down plucked from her breast, and laid nine fresh eggs of a yel- lowish olive hue — my first Dakota Duck's eggs I I had already noticed a fine male Canvasback swimming among some clumps of reeds, well out in the water. I decided to wade there, letting the boy beat along the shore. The Canvasback had disappeared, but when I got out not far from where I had seen him, I heard a sudden splashing and beating of wings, and the same instant saw a large Duck, that I recognized as a female Canvasback, fluttering over the water ten or fifteen yards ahead of me. I was soon there, and found in a little clump of reeds a sort of semi - floating "ark of bul- rushes," lined with an abund- ance of whitish down, and ten large eggs of a sort of dark leaden color, a hue produced by no bird but a Canvas- back. This mother had begun her work earlier than her Pintail neighbor, for her eggs seemed considerably incubated. The weather cleared during the night, and the next day, with a bracing northwest wind, we drove thirty miles further to a fine large lake, and, pitch- 176 •• I WAS SOON THERE. AND FOUND IN A LITTtE CLUMP OP REEDS A SORT OF SEMI- FLOATING 'ARK OP BULRUSHES.' LINED WlfH . , . WHITISH DOWN " KEST OF THE CANVASBACK WiLD-FowL OP Wild-Fowl ing our camp in a grove of timber on the shore or .everal day. found many interesting thing, to inve.t.gate. A few mile, back from the lake*w« a ru.hy, gra..-grown .lough that .upportcd a mar- half long, and a. e put up the hor.c. in a .od nlZ "r? ' - '^^fV"^ "^ •^'"^ GadwalU, Bald- ffil. t'T"^'"* ^"i*' S^'o^^"-"* Mallards, and d ail r ;"*/T"^y' down where the cow. drank, I realized what a wonderful place it was. I he water wa. too deep to wade, except at the lower end of the .lough, and the' only boat had .nT K^L-"? '"n .P"^"*^ ^''^- ^°' «" that, I .aw enough bird.. Pair, of Ruddy Duck, were swim- ming among the reed., holding their tail, erect, as IS their unique fa.hion. By thi. habit they can be di. inguLhed from any of the other Ducks. The male, at thi. season, is very striking in hi. bright reddish coat and pale- blue bill. Eared, Horned and P.cd- billed Grebes, and Coots, were every- where near neighbors of the Ruddies. Farther out there were the Greater and Lesser Scaups, in pairs also very many pairs of Redheads, and, most conspicuous of all Canvasback couples that were floating about in the more open lanes and areas of water. In one place where I stood I counted eleven pairs of Canvasbacks, and one solitary male whose mate had doubtless already begun her month! long vigi somewhere in one of the reedy clumps. A pair of Pintails were busy on the prairie, near the margin, and I found they were scratching a hollow that was to be their nest. Wherever I went pairs or parties of all these species of Ducks that 177 Among the Water Fowl I have mentioned kept flying up, or were out in the water within sight. Thus there were eleven species of wild Ducks in that one locality, and all of them in good numbers. This is a Dakota duck- slough at its best. After a quiet Sunday in camp, our party being increased to four by a local guide and a visiting ornithologist, we made a trip to the " Enchanted Isles," described in preceding pages. It was the 23d of May, beautiful, calm, and bright. We carted a boat on a buckboard, and visited each of the four islands, finding plenty of eggs of Cormorants and Ring-bills and a few scattering nests of Pin- tails, Gad walls and Mallards— most of the Ducks having not yet nested. But there were some dis- coveries that I must describe in detail. We had been but a short time on the Cormorant Island when the guide called out to me. It was but a few steps to where he stood, by a clump of tall dry weeds. In the midst of them was a great bed of stems and grass, lined with an abundance of white down, that seemed to fill the nest. But there was something else white I Pulling aside the down we found disclosed to view six enormous chalky- white eggs, each as big as two or three Duck's 178 ' rULLIHG ASIDE THE DOWN. WE FOUND DISCLOSED TO VIEW SIX ENORMOUS CHALKY- WHITE EGGS " NEST OF THE (WILD) CANADA GOOSE Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl eggs It was a nest of the Canada Goose. We had heard Geese honking as we approaced the isl- and, and had seen at least one making off. Here was the buried treasure they had hoped would be unobserved. I had always thought of the wild Geese as breeding only in the far north. This was the first nest of this sort that I had ever seen, and It would be hard to describe the feelings with which I viewed it. It seemed as though I were in a trackless wilderness, perhaps very near the pole, except that the sun was too warm for such high latitude. At any rate, I had the delightful sense of boreal adventure without its hardships We saw nothing of the owners of the nest. so. after photographing it, we proceeded to the second island where we actually found another Goose nest in a short time. This one held five eggs and was situated m short grass— a sort of lawn it was— just back from the bank, on the higher part of the island, overlooking the lake. It seemed a rather conspicuous plate for the great bird to sit with so little cover, but no doubt she squatted close enough when danger was near, if, indeed, she allowed any- one to approach within observing distance while she was there. This nest was very slight, being little more than a hollow lined with down. There was no Goose nest on the third island, but we discovered another on the last that had evidently been rifled. It was a rude pile of grass and down, placed near one end of the island, at the top of a gravel-spit, among some weeds. Out at the extremity of the spit, as we approached, we saw the two Geese standing with outstretched J79 Among the Water Fowl necks. Great birds they were, and too wary to be approached. From here we drove northwest, away up to the international boundary, exploring some large lakes eastward from the Turtle Mountain region. On the 30th of May we reached Rock Lake and pitched the tent on the prairie close to the stony shore. By this time more of the Ducks had laid. I was pariicu- larly fortunate there in finding Blue-winged Teals' nests. The morning after our arrival I was rowing on the lake, and happened to land on a sort of pen- insula formed on one side by a marshy bayou. The l-'nd was broken and rolling, but near the shore it was flat, almost marshy, and covered with very pro- fuse dry grass of the previous year's growth that had escaped the prairie fires. My companion al- most trod on a Western Meadow Lark that left her arched nest in the grass and six eggs for our inspec- tion. Just after this I was returning to the boat, when— spring, flutter— away went a Blue-winged Teal from the long grass at my very feet. It took me but a second to reach the spot, and, parting the grass, I gazed into my first Teal's nest, with its ten small, creamy eggs, well spattered with excrement, which the bird dropped as she flew. I afterwards found that this last is the usual occurrence when a Duck is surprised and flushed from her eggs. This nest was well down in the thick dry grass, and would have been practically impossible to discover without flushing the bird. It was built in a hollow in the ground, of dry grass, with which the abundant dark gray down that lined it was more or less mixed. After a few minutes we started on again, and 180 \ 1 , MM > V;. ■^ &:■ • [f^jn^ it . * w w < a as 0, < M z z - - o h2 X z U 111 < S z a < X < M < a o < < S o i8i "THIS HMT DAy OF JUNE I ALSO FOUND MY FIRST MALLARDS' NESTS' Among the Water Fowl had gone but a few steps when another Teal flushed at close quarters, and I soon found the nest, similar to the last, with a set of nine eggs. In the same way we found three more Teals' nest in this tract, five in all. The first day of June I also found my first Mallards' nests. One was on a lit- tle hummock, in a tussock of grass, a little way out in the , , , water where the lake shore was marshy, the big bird springing forth with a bound into the air when I was per- haps fifteen yards away. The nest was quite sub- stantial and well lined, and held ten yellowish drab eggs, shghtly tinged with green. The other nest was on an island in front of our camp, placed in a thicket of trees and bushes. The first time the Duck flushed I could hardly get a glimpse of her so I came again later in the day, and, approaching carefully, easily identified the nine eggs, that, like the ochers, were quite fresh. A few days later we drove on, still eastward over a most desolate, mainly uninhabited prairie' to Rush Lake, which I have already described' On one part of its shore a fire had burned over a large tract of grass and rushes, and I saw quite a number of nssts of scorched Ducks' eggs exposed to view. I shall remember this great prairie lake 182 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowi as the place where I found two Ducks' nests new to me. After going over the burnt tract I pulled up the tops of my boots- and waded along the shore, some rods out, among clumps of long grass. Away went a brownish Duck, with grey wines from a tussock a little beyond me,-a Redhead, I saw at once There was a very large basket-nest ot dry rushes, lined wit*^ lown, and a no less size- able assortment of eggs, fifteen of them I finally counted. Each egg, too, was large, nearly white, with a faint greenish tinge and a shell so smooth and hard as to remind one of a billiard ball. Altogether it was a large and inierestrng discovery. At this point I waded ashore and had no sooner set foot on dry land than a Blue-winged Teal flushed from the prairie grass, and I found her eight fresh eggs in a nest of grass and down similar to those already found. From this spot I had gone but a short distance, when out went another Teal, and directly I was inspecting eight eggs more. Hav- ing by this time rested a little, I again tried wad- ing, and very soon had the pleasure of seeing a female Shoveler unwillingly flutter out from some very thick grass near me. I had been told that this species usually nested on the dry prairie, 1^1 NEST OP RIDHEAD i84 Wild-Fowl op Wild-Fowl but here was evidently a nest out over the water. For some time I pawed over that grass in vainj and began to think I was mistaken, when a piece of down climging to a blade of grass caught my eye. Under it was the nest, at the very bottom of the high tussock. The grass met over it with- out showing any opening whatever. I should never have found it without flushing the bird. There were ten fresh eggs, yellowish white, the color of the Teals', but larger. Many interesting happenings followed, until in time we reached the Turtle Mountain timbered country, which, though interesting, did not afford much in the line of Ducks. About all I saw there were a few Blue-winged Teals, Redheads, Golden- eyes and Mallards. With the latter I had a rather amusing experience. One day I found myself on the shore of a lake in an uninhabited region, miles from camp at dinner-time, and no food with me. At one o'clock I was beginning to feel rather faint, when a Mallard flushed from the grass just up from the water, leaving six perfectly fresh eggs, evidently an incomplete set. It occurred to me that this was my dinner, providentially furnished. As it was raining, cooking was out of the question, so I emp- tied two of the eggs into my mouth, with as little tasting as possible. For an hour at theit place of destination there was a condition of unstable equi- librium. Strong will at length conquered, but the appetite for raw Ducks' eggs was effectually destroyed. To redeem the memory of Turtle Mountain Ducks' nests, however, occurred a much pleasantfr 185 Among the Water Fowl episode. I had been arduously wading a very boggy area of ruihcs, a sort of bayou back from a lake Nothing especial had come to light, and I was struggling absent-mindedly on, when I almost trod on a bird upon its nest in some thick rushes. It fluttered out in the terrified, pitiful manner of the Ducks, literally right from under my feet, a brown- ish Duck of medium size, with pearl-grey specula, or wing-bars. Without going very far, it alit in some open water, where I approached it within a few feet, behind some rushes, and confirmed my hrst impression that it was a female Ring-necked Scaup, distinguished from the other female Scaups by Its wing-bars being pearl-grey instead of white. After thus satisfying myself I went back to where 1 had thrown my handkerchief by the nest. There was a pretty canopy of rushes arching over the neatly built basket, soft with down from the mater- nal breast, in which lay twelve dark brown eggs almost the color of Bitterns'. It was the only nest of the Ring-necked Scaup found during the whole trip. Owing to the illness of my companion we soon had to leave the "mountains" and stay in a neigh- boring town for a few days. With a boy for com- pany, I explored the region. One hot day, June i8, we drove twenty miles to Long Lake,— a great alkaline flat, it was, covered with a uniform depth of only two or three feet of water, with great areas of grass and scattered clumps of rushes. I had been told that Canvasbacks nested here, and after an arduous search, finding several Ducks' nests where the broods had been hatched, a female Can- z8< Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl vasback started from her canopied nest in a clump of rushes, just as I had caught a glimpse of the bulky mass of stems and down. I realize how in- adequate is the power of words to convey the full impression of such a scene and the interest and excitement of such a moment. Though I have seen It enacted hundreds of times, I would willingly tramp miles to experience that thrill once more. For one thing, at such a time the mind is in a state of expectancy through the effort of the search. The v/ildness of those prairie lakes adds to its charm. Every clump of thick vegetation suggests limitless depths of possibility, and success comes frequently enough not to allow hope and expec- tancy to flag. And when it does come "it is so sudden," that rustling of the grass, the beating of wings, the sight at close quarters of the noble bird rising from the mysterious fastness. Every nerve is strained to note each marking and detail in that brief, fleeting instant, into which a whole day of life is crowded. It takes training of eye and mind to so utilize that golden speck of time that there shall not afterward be the regret of a confused mind and an unidentified nest. Then comes the delicious expectf ncy of the approach to the clump, the peer- ing in, the first sight of the hidden treasure. The whole scene is one of Nature, inanimate and living, at her best. In this spirit, with enthusiasm aglow, I watched the swift Canvasback until she disap- peared behind some rushes, and then peered into the bed of down. Nine dark eggs there were, and two strangers, the smooth white eggs of a Redhead that had laid in the wrong nest. Neither the hot 187 Among the Water Fowl marth, the heated, undrinkable alkaline water which imparted no relief in cooling brow or moistening parched tongue, nor the long dark prairie drive, protracted beyond the midnight hour, dispelled that enthuiiaim. Just out from the town was a little slough of a few acres, with the usual border and clumps of rushes, where Ducks and other birds resorted. One morning, as I reached the outer edge of an area of flags, I heard sounds of pattering and chirp- ing. In a moment a brood of eight little downy Ducks, evidently but a day or two out of the shell, appeared in the open water in a well-ordered line, swimming with all their might. And then, with a rush of despair, came the mother, a Green-winged Teal, to the rescue. She threw herself in the water in front of me and lay there fluttering, as though sorely wounded, swimming a little and then flying up, only to return in a moment to repeat the same performance. Meanwhile the little ones had dis- appeared in the rushes further along, but the little mother desisted not in her protestations till I with- drew from the water's edge to inspect some young Pintails, nearly half grown, that were skulking in the grass. We caught one, and my boy-companion 1 88 "THIN COMU THE DIUCIOUS IXPICTANCY OP THI APPROACH TO THI CLUMP. THI PIMINO IN, THI PIMT MOHT OP THI HIDDEN T»IAIU?S." NUT AND iURROUNDINCf OP THI CANVASIACK Wild-Fowl or Wild-Fowl wat for taking it home. But, in pity for it under the neglect I wai sure it would receive, I pushed it out from under his arm, and it escaped to the water. S» It is time now, in the narrative, that we hasten back to the region of Devil's Lake, and describe another visit to "The Enchanted Isles." It was on June 27, late enough in the season for the tar- diest Ducks to have about finished laying their full sets, another beautiful day, when we again landed on what we have called the third island. A cloud of Terns and Ring-bills hovered over it. Hardly had we stepp'd from the boat when up went a Pintail from t e weeds, leaving her six incubated eggs for us to admire. Half a dozen steps more, and away fluttered a Baldpate from her eight fresh creamy-white eggs; then another of the same spe- cies, a few feet further on, from a set of ten. Each nest was placed under a clump of weeds among the loose rocks. Then, as I retraced my steps towards the boat, a Lesser Scaup flew from the grass a few rods ahead of me. After a little search, I found her set of nine beautiful brown eggs. Meanwhile my companion was investigating a clump of rose-bushes near by, on the summit of the island. Seeing under them some rubbish with down clinging to it, he poked a stick into it and pulled it apart, unearthing seven great flesh-colored eggs of the White-winged ^joter, a bird that had only recently been suspected of breeding in the i8q Among the Water Fowl United States. Numerous individuals had been hanging around these islands all the spring, and I knew they must be breeding somewhere about. This nest was little more than a hollow in the damp earth, with a rim of straw, stems, and sticks, lined with a small amount of dark gray down. The eggs were fresh and cold, the set incomplete. The bird had scraped loam over the nest, and it seemed like digging potatoes to get at the eggs and prepare the nest to photograph. This set me to hunting for more Scoters' nests, and it was but a moment or so before I dug from under a small clump of brush close by a similar nest with only one buried egg> the Scoter having but just begun to lay. Then a Gadwall got up from her set of ten white eggs, and, as we proceeded, at every few steps Gadwalls, Scaups, and Baldpates started from their nests. So incessant was the fluttering up of Ducks from beneath our feet that my mind became utterly confused, so far as taking exact account of the various nests was concerned. The matter of identifying nests had its difficul- ties. Although subsequent investigation has cleared away most of the uncertainties, I find myself obliged to confess that it is practically impossible, under many circumstances, in the hurry of a Duck's de- parture when flushed from a nest, to distinguish positively, for instance, between the female Gad- wall and Baldpate. The latter seems to have rather more white on the wingbar, and is of a slightly lightergray plumage,— that is about all. T'le eggs of both are white, and although sets of the Bald- pate are usually the more creamy, I am not cer- 190 Wild-Fowl or Wild-Fowl tain that the difference always holds. The female Pintail at a distance looks very much like both of the above, though she has a longer, more slen- der neck. But her eggs are distinct, having an olivaceous caste. The eggs of the three Scaups, Greater, Lesser, and Ring-necked, — are alike in color, a decided brown, and different from eggs of any other Ducks, but arc easily confused one with the other, as are the birds themselves. The eggs of the Blue- and Green-winged Teal are indis- linguishable, but one can identify the birds at close range. The feir.ale Mallard can be told by its large size, spotted plumage, and blue speculum. Females of Redhead and Canvas-back arc some- what alike, but the latter is larger and lighter in color, and the eggs of each I consider distinctive. The Shoveler and her eggs can usually be distin- guished,—though there is some resemblance to the Pintail, — as the size is considerably less. As to Ruddy Duck and White-winged Scoter there can be no mistake. The eggs of the former arc aston- ishingly large for the size of the bird, have a rough, pitted shell, entirely unique, and are pure white. Scoters' eggs are larger than those of any Duck nesting in the United States, save the Eider, which is not found breeding in the interior. Leaving this island, at length, with its many nests of Terns and Ducks, we crossed to island number two, only a short distance away. Large numbers of young Ring-bills were scurrying about among the rocks or swimming out into the lake. It was the same as on the other islands with the Ducks. Wc scoured through its many areas and 191 Among the Water Fowl clumps of grass, weeds, or bushes, and found enough eggs of Gadwalls, Baldpates, Scaups, Sco- ters, Pintails, and Shovelers to have filled many pails, had we gathered them. It was not surprising, with this teeming bird-life, to find that the Ducks not infrequently laid in each others' nests. I found a mixed set of ten Shov- elers' eggs and four of a Scaup, flushing the fe- male Shoveler from this aggregation. I also found Shovelers' eggs in a Baldpates' nest. On the summit of the island, under clumps of rose-bushes. Scoters seemed to hold sway. Under one clump we literally unearthed ten buried eggs. My companion looked into another near-by thicket, and a great Scoter sprang almost into his face, revealing a magnificent set of fourteen large eggs. At the western end of the island, on the highest ground, was a very large clump of rose-bushes, as high as one's head, the others having been but a couple of feet in height. Near the top of one of these bushes was the nest of a common King- bird with three eggs. I crawled into this maze of briars and was about to leave when I thought I 192 '• AND FOUND ENOUGH EGGS ... TO HAVE FILI.EO MANY PAILS, HAD WE GATHERED THEM." NEiT OF LESSER SCAUP Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl saw some dark down projecting fr'eing laid simply in a hollow, lined with a liuie down, and over them the bird had scratched the earth. The eggs are thus left till the set is completed, when incubation begins. Just as I got out again into the open I saw my compan- ion, as he bent over another clump, nearly knocked down as a Scoter sud- denly flew almost into his face. Here was an- other typical nest with ten fresh eggs. Under still another clump was a hol- low freshly scratched out, evidently by a Scoter, in preparation for her first egg. It is now known that the Scoter breeds very late, seldom finishing laying before July, and often well along in that month. A hurried trip to island number one re- vealed, besides sixty Cormorants' nests still with eggs, a few more nests of Ducks. Then we made for the fourth and last island. I paid but passing h.ed to the Baldpates, Gadwalls and Scaups that flew from their nests, or to a Pintail whose eight eggs were on the point of hatching. I wanted to 193 ' A GREAT SCOTER SPRANG ALMOST INTO HIS FACE. REVEALING A MAGNIFICENT SET OF FOURTEEN LARGE EGGS. ' NEST OF WHITE-WINGED SCOTER, UNTIL RECENTLY HARDLY KNOWN TO SCIENCE Among the Water Fowl see more of the little-known nesting-habits of the Scoters; As they seemed to select clumps of bushes, I felt, as I neared the only clump on this island, that there must be a Scoters' nest under its shade. Nor was I disappointed, as I cautiously parted the bushes and looked in. There, about a yard from me, sat a female Scoter on her nest, the picture of consternation, as our glances met. My first thought was to get the camera and photo- graph her on the nest, so I cautiously withdrew. But the bird by this time recovered her presence of mind. The bushes parted and she waddled out past me, almost brushing against me, then taking ^ wing, at length to drop into the lake and dive. The nest contained thirteen fresh eggs. Probably, as with most other Ducks on these islands and elsewhere, from -ight to eleven is the ordinary number of eggs in the full complements. On another visit to these islands a friend of mine ac- tually caught a Scoter on her nest and obliged her to sit for her picture ere he restored her to freedom. The next day I made a visit to the slough where, over a month before, I had seen so many kinds of Ducks. We had first to dig out a boat on the large lake, that a gale had nearly filled with gravel, ere we could take it along with us on the buckboard. The rushes and grass had grown very high, and it was not as easy as before to see the Ducks, though there were plenty of them. Here, at last, I found my first nest of the Ruddy Duck. It was a genu- me floating structure, built out in the middle of the slough in deep water, with only a few stems of grass 194 Q Ul Z w u' 2 M u. f« < y n 0. a z < X £ M &: s tf) X h H n O 0 P H h OC U] S X > o ee u u o X f- i ■ 0 < e z o z < i95 Among the Water Fowl near it for anchorage and shade. In location only was it like a Grebe's nest, being dry, deep and bulky, though with little down. A recent storm, probably, had partly upset it, and several of the fifteen large white eggs were lying on the edge or spilled out into the water. It seemed almost im- possible that such a little bird as a Ruddy Duck should have laid that pile of eggs, several times its own weight, in less than three weeks. When I first saw a Ruddy's eggs I could hardly believe they were properly identified, as they are larger than the eggs of the Mallard or the Canvasback. Canvasback, Redhead, and Ruddy Ducks can be classed together in the nesting season. They all build elaborate nests in the rushes out over deep water, and when one is found in a slough the other members of the triumvirate are also likely to occur. As though in proof of this, I saw, as I inspected this nest, a female Canvasback, followed by eight young, swimming across the lane of water. Not far away, as later I waded from the boat into the rushes, I came upon a fine nest of the Redhead, canopied over with the dry rushes, with thirteen Redhead eggs and two of the Ruddy Duck, and then, still another, in some long grass growing out of deep water, very bulky and downy, with eleven Redhead eggs and one of the Ruddy. But it is not only amid grass and rushes that the nests of Ducks are found, though many people sup- pose this to be the case. To such a sight that I wit- nessed would be a revelation. It was "Memorial 196 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl Day," and three of us were exploring a patch of timber near the shore of a Dakota lake. Seeing a knot-holc in an oak tree, about fifteen feet from the ground, with a piece of white down clinging to its edge, I called to my friend to come and in- spect it, as a probable nest of the American Golden - eye Duck. No soon- er were we all under the tree than we saw, through a lower crack, a movement within. Directly a brown head appeared at the entrance, and the Golden-eye pro- ceeded to come forth. But she had a hard time of it. The hole was so small that a slender human arm could hardly be inserted. The poor Duck had to wriggle and twist back and forth like a snake, I should think for ten seconds, ere she was able to emerge and take to wing. It was a sin- gular and interesting sight. Then I climbed the tree and found that about two feet below the hole, in a bed of soft, snowy down, there were ten large fresh eggs of a greenish color. The cavity was so small that they had to be piled in two layers. It must have been the scarcity of suitable holes that compelled the Duck to submit to such discomfort. 197 BUT IT IS NOT ONLY AMID GRASS AND RUSHES THAT THE NESTS OF DUCKS ARE FOUND." NEST OF AMER- ICAN COLDER- EYE IN THE KNOT-HOLE, CONTAIN- ING SEVEN EGGS Among the Water Fowl On a certain part of the shore of Devil's Lake there is another similar area of timber, where, late in June, during the tour described above, I had a most fascinating time for several days with the Golden-eyes. We had just encamped near-by, and I was taking a preliminary stroll through the grove that had some quite large trees, some of them being mere decayed shells. At length I came to a stub with a large round opening at the top of the main trunk, about ten feet from the giound. No bird flew at my rapping, nor was there any down visible at the entrance. However, I though I would scram- ble up and look in. About an arm's length from the opening was a mass of white down and feathers that filled the cavity. Reaching into it, I felt eggs — a large number of them. It seemed as though the count would never end, but I finally ascertained that the number was sixteen, piled there in a great heap, two or three deep. With this en- couragement I began to look from this stub I large tree, about about waist high. ° AT LENGTH I CAMS TO A STUB WITH A LARGE ROUND OPENING AT THE TOP OF THE MAIN TRUNK." NEST OF AMERICAN GOLDEN -EYE CONTAINING SIXTEEN EGGS for more holes. Only a few rods soon discovered another hole in a as high up as my head. Below it, 198 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl was an opening that someone had made with an axe to get at a Duck's nest. There was down around this lower hole, and through it I easily put my hand on a set of seven eggs. Very near this tree was the most likely opening of all, a great hol- low almost large enough for a man to crawl in, about twenty feet up a leaning oak. No down was visible, but I felt certain that there must be a nest, and my expectations were more than realized. As I scrambled up, and my head was just opposite the hole, whirring, thundering sounds issued from withip, and out went a female Golden-eye, with a frightened murmur, almost in my face. I could have seized her had I wished to. Peering in, I counted eleven eggs at the bottom, in the usual "feather bed." I could just reach them, and the first one that I took out to examine I found was pipped, the duckling chirping within. The next day was very rainy, but it cleared in the afternoon, and again I climbed the tree. I never expect to see a prettier sight. The mothe* lay at the bottom, surrounded by a beautiful flock of black and white young. Some of them were on the old Duck's back; others were under her, ap- parently, and several of them were moving around in the limited chamber, picking at the chips on the bottom. Instantly the old bird caught sight of me. Turning over partly on her side, she looked up with a frijrhtened expression, and hissed like a snake. It wai a most delectable little family scene. After I had enjove(' for a few moments I with- drew from the .lole and began rapping the tree. It took a number of calls before the mother reluc- 199 t li (I- ' Among the Water Fowl tantly responded, and flew out, as before. Every egg had hatched, and the little creatures were active and well dried off, ready for their exit to the great lake and the wide world. I hoped to see fhem taken from the nest, but the next morning it was ramy again, and, when I got there later in the day they had departed. Where the tree is over the water, the young have been seen to leap out them- selves; but other observers report that the old bird usually carries them out one by one in her bill. As hollow trees— or any others for that matter- are not very plentiful in Dakota, and there are a good many families of the American Golden-eye and Hooded Merganser, iike Abraham and Lot of old the two kinds have wisely decided to separate. Ihe Golden-eyes seem to monopolize the hollow trees by the lakes, the Mergansers those by rivers The fact IS that they prefer still and running water respectively. In one trip that I made down the Sheyenne River after the middle of June, I found the pretty hooded fowl with the saw-like bills quite abundant on the stream; but a hollow, with green- ish white egg-shells, from which the brood had hatched and gone, indicated that we were too late for eggs that season. The male Hooded Merganser IS a very striking bird, with his fine crest and con- spicuous black and white plumage. I shall not for- get how a pair of them on this river looked, as they floated near together on its quiet surface. In sum- mer the stream is but a few yards wide, so when I crawled up through the bushes to the edge of the bank just opposite the Ducks, I was very near, mdeed. They did. not see me, and not until after 200 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl In my visit the past season to che lakes and Roughs of this splendid prairie region, I renewed my acquaintance with the Ducks and Geese, and made some further observations. As it happ;ned we found several nests of the Canada Goose thii nme ,„ marshy sloughs, large platforms of stem bu,lt,n areas of broken-down rushes that made a foundation above the surrounding water. It was June and we were too late, for only an addled egg or two remained. The Geese lay usually early in May, or even in April, it is said. ^ The Ducks seemed to be about as numerous as before On the islands they held their own well though not so many Scoters were nesting there But the presence of large flocks of them in differ- ent bays showed that great numbers of them were breeding in places along the shores, doubtless, from others observation, up on the adjoining prairie I noticed more mixed Ducks' sets than ever. We found here nests of Gadwall, Baldpate and Scaup Tniu \'u- '^''' '^'° intermingled with one another. A Ring-necked Scaup had a nest with ten eggs. On June 22 I came upon a sight that I had never witnessed before. A Shoveler flushed at our feet from the grass, and there were ten young in the nest, all dry, and ready to take to the water! which they tried to do as soon as their mother lefj them. One of the party put his hat over them 201 I i I I Among the Water Fowl the instant the hat was remove^. As soon as we allowed them to they all streamed out of the ne«! and down the bank into the water, to join their distressed mother, who was flapping about near the shore calling to them i n a plaintive manner. In one pafchoflowrose- 1> u 8 h e s there were three Ducks' nests withm less than . , . , , ten feet — a Sco- ter s with twelve eggs, a GadwaU's with eleven, and thirtXe'eggsr-'"'^ ^" ''''''^''^' ^^- During a week's time that we spent among the sloughs first mentioned in this chapter, from June 7 to H, we found a considerable number of nests of the Canvasback, Redhead, and Ruddy Ducks bu.lt out in the reeds over water averaging knee Th\ AA ^^'"i^ "'"^^ ^ ^"y interesting study. anvwhere f ''"'^' ""^ °"^^ ^"^^ ^^y^^' -^ ha'd anywhere from one to ten eggs. These nests, un- amv inTh" ^''""r'^y mentioned, were well hidden away m the reeds, usually in the midst of a l?r£e clump or tract in the very thickest of the vegeta! 202 • A •HOVILM rtUSHED AT OUR FEET FROM THE CRAU AND THERE WERE TEN YPUNG IN THE NEST" WiLD-FoHL OF Wild-Fowl tion, and canopied by the surrounding reedi bein« drawn over them, and even twisted Together J? fact .omc looked almost exactly like a large type o Ra.r, nests. As has been the experience of others we never could catch Mrs. Ruddy on the nes . She always skulks off. and allows not even a glimpse of herself. The other two kinds usually remain sitting on their eggs, flushing sooner, however, than the prfirie- nesting Ducks, when the intruder comes within ten CO niteen paces. The Redhead is a great layer. Some days I found half a dozen nests, most of which had as many as ten eggs, several times fif- teen, and once I flushed a Red- head from „, twenty-two eggs -the largest set that" l" have ever seen in the nest of any bird. The Canvasback usu- ally had ten or eleven eggs, sometimes as few as seven. One nest that I found was in a very large when the bird flew at some distance from me. There Tk ' k ^^P'/"'' ^ ^"''"^ '' ^ ^^^ d«ys later to see If she had laid more. Mrs. Canvasback was asleep on the nest, with her bill resting on her breast. I stood within ten yards and watched her for several minutes. Think of it! the famous Canvasback of 203 '^ HAD 'anU^e' «„m °'"'^ "" '•*''-°- *-"» n«u ANYWHERE PROM ONE TO TEN tnnt WELL HIDDEN AWAY IN THE RMd" ' ' Among the Water Fowl the lake, a.lccp ,n her ark- what a .ccne it wa,! But for lack of time I might have managed to photograph her some day by ac- customing her to the sight of the camera. At length she raised her head, and saw me. For •THI MDHEAD U A CtlAT LAYIt" *" inStant Shc I. J, , seemed para- ^zcd then she stood up and, with a quick spring, went flying ofF, just over the tops of the reeds. The same six eggs were there, heavily incu- bated I found when I exam- ined them more closely. And I saw another thing I had over- looked before : only two of the eggs were her THE SAME NEST OF REDHEAD. SHOWING SURROUNDINGS own, the other four being Redhead eggs. Not over a gunshot from tnis spot, m a clump of reeds away out in the lake a quarter of a mile from shore, another Canvasback 204 :u- ^■\,l«-] . '^ ' Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl had a nc8t with leven eggs of her own and one of a Ruddy Duck. No further away was another Can- vaiback with eleven eggs that were about to hatch, ror a wonder, these eggs were all hers. Though A imagine that this tribe are all busybodies, I consider the odd little Ruddy as the greatest adept at poking her blue nose in- to other duck- npnnl#.*e »%..«: "AfOTHEa canvasback had a nest wi-h seven people S 0 U S 1 - ECC« or Hift OWN AND ONE Of A RUDDY DUCK • ness I saw a Canvasback on June lo swimming in this slough with five young. Whether the blood of any of these was "Ruddy" I could net tell though probably the eggs were laid early enough to outwit that semi-parasite. The breeding dates of these various Ducks vanes considerably with the earliness or tardiness of the particular season. On my first trip I found the season very backward. Many of the Ducks had not finished laying by the first of June-the majority not even then. But last spring they were very much earlier, as the season opened warm and pleasant, and the various species arrived at an early date. While there is no exact time at whj- h each species lays— for individuals are very erratic-there is an average date at which one can expect to find the bulk of a species thus employed. The little calendar that I 205 1 1 11 Among the Water Fowt others; „ „ „mpiy ,he average of two seasons' con- tinuous observation. Mallards and Pintails are nota- Wy the early bird,, laying any time after the first of May-occasionally before, I am told -though I think that about May 20 one will find the grfa.e seaTonrthec'"- K^.'^T' ""' "'"'' '" -<"- " seasons, the Canvasbacks have laid and the Hooded r„M ""■ ?*"'' '^ '" ''"'•" "«= rigl" date for t°!t"'r''' ■'""',■ '"^ Teal, Shovelers, and Red- heads; June ID or later for Gadwalls and Ruddies- June I J and on for the Scaups and Baldpates and the ist of July for White'winged Scoter To make the acquaintance in the nesting season of certain other Ducks which do not go to the re mote north, we shall have to explore the Atlan fc coast region. It is by no means as easy to find them there as on the Great Plains, yet patient searching wiU now and then be rewarded. "^Mos of the sea Ducks, such as the Scoter, and Old quaws, migrate to Labrador or beyond. Some day Lve'^not^ '°" """I'.'"" " ^" ">y wanderingi IsUnds Y«?h """''"' ""•"'' "' "" Magdalen Away out by East Point is what is called "the Great Pond," a shallow body of water certainly a couple of miles long, occasionally inundated by the sea, that breaks across the beach in storms. At it, ''Lr^ KM "?." "'' J'""""" have named tie Egg Nubble,," a number of tiny islets, on which 206 207 Among the Water Fowe Terns and Ducks breed. At our first arrival wc visited them, and were disappointed not to find any Ducks' nests, although there were scores of Ducks of several kinds, mostly Red-breasted Mergansers feeding or flying about. We made the trip agdn on the 29th of June. An easterly storm was ragfng and we droves even or eight miles over beach, dune!,' and barrens, in an old cart drawn by an ancicn white horse. Even in the thickest of winter cS- ing and overcoats we were shivering. Reaching our destination, we tied the horse to a clump "1 stunted spruces and waded out to the "Nubbles." We had almost reached the first when a Dusky or "Black" Duck flushed from the grass up from the edge, leaving a pretty, downy nest with eight •A DUSKY DUCK FLUSHED PROM THE GUAM UP FIIOm" ^7^^ ^^^^ '^^' ™cHT«\iTJS'*''""^°°^''^''""-'^'™ closely resem- the M„l„d: I „a, surprised .o fi'lTllsh 'e^ o1 this Duck so late, as, from our first arrival, w! had seen broods of young i„ ,he ponds, some of , hern several weeks old. A few feei awa^, under a S bush, a Merganser had scratched out a hollow „ yet un hned, and had laid the firs, egg of her mie' f„ J u , u"?"* *"°" '° 'he next islet, and here that Bluebills," or Scaup,, nested on these and 208 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl other islands. I had seen some of the birds and was prepared for what now took place. Up flut- tered a thick-set brown Duck, with white wing-bars, from the grass a couple of yards up from the shore. It was unmistakably a Scaup, and a large specimen at that. In a typical,well-con- ccaled, down- lined nest were nine large, dark brown eggs. Their size, meas- uring from two and a half to two and six-tenths inches in length, made it sure that they belonged to the Greater Scaup. According to the books, none of the Scaups had been known to nest on the Atlantic coast. The fisherman affirmed that Teal of both kinds nested on the islands. For a time it s-emed that all my arduous wading and tramping would fail to verify this. But on the afternoon of June i6, as I was wearily dragging my heavy boots along the edge of a slough, something suddenly went flap- ping over the grass, out from under a projecting spruce-bough that sprawled flat on the ground, on which I had almost trodden. It was a female Blue- winged Teal. I lifted the bough, and there were 209 IN A TYPICAL, WILI^CONCEALED. DOWN-LINED NEST WBKB NINE LAKCB DARK BROWN BGCS." NBST OP GREATER SCAUP. MAGDALEN ISLANDS. " ACCORD- ING TO THE BOOKS, NONE OP THE SCAUPS HAD BEEN KNOWN TO BREED IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA- Among the Water Fowl spot airain h«« a "","«"> ana wftcn I passed the Magdalen Wand,. *' DucMarm of the nc^-^^tbTZ":""''' """"'"K "Shell-duck."' A boy "und "an'l f„Xe '.« 'n7e '"""^ ■=•"'"• in the woods and »T» k u °" ' 'P™« "•« larly pla«d .les?, on 1 i °^' "^ " ""P"' <>' «<»!- but all I found wa.^hL"'' 'P™""*"™ "land. Met of tZt^lf'lTsXi.T"'' ""•">• on the ponds and JZXh T "*"■ ■"*'«» »"' incubation dd not b^ein riU i*!' '%' " '"^ ""' nest in the erass bv S^ f ^^i ^"^ "' *em practice ^ I "i toU t„ ?°"'' J"" ^'" 1^"'"'^ •pruces, often weulnJo ,h ""''"■*/ '''''« '«"' a.mo« in,pe„Ul^ - e^-an^^d ^^od,.^^^ are very hard to find, even when the birds are in- cubating. They are very abundant on these islands. The eggs are of a drab color, a little lighter than those of the Scaups, and quite breed in the pa«f#.rn p f ^ ' "® *^*° ^o in tne eastern Provinces and in Maine, all 210 TEAL. MAC^AUN So. """ "' "•"'-^"OED Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl r'u ^'^^"'.^c^orting to trec-hollow8 by the retired lakes. The Red-head is also reported as nestine rarely in this region. It is quite surprising that while incalculable thou- sands of the Eiders-known to fishermen and gun- ners as -Sea Ducks "-pass up the St. Lawrence on their way to Labrador and beyond, without even stopping at the Magdalen Islands, quite a few of them remain for the summer on jyarious lonely islands along the coast of Maine, New Brunswick and southern Nova Scotia. Owing to persecution they are usually very cunning in concealing the whereabouts of the nests. They always cover them with a profusion of the soft "eider-down " when they have occasion to leave. If a boat appears, they will even skulk from the weedy clumps or ■ Uer- ing bush, slip down to tht vater's edge ar swim off under water. I remember once, as we rowed around a point of "No Man's Land," coming right upon a female Eider that had probably just left her nest somewhere up on the shore. At first she did not try to dive, and she was so near that I leaned over the side of the boat to lay hold of her. Im- minent danger brought her suddenly to herself and the speedy plunge that followed was the last I ever saw of her. Once I caught the cunning Eider napping. It was on Green Island, off Mt. Desert. I was follow- ing a sort of grass-grown ledge, quite high up from the water, when I almost trod on a female Eider sitting close. Her sudden start gave a decided' though pleasant, shock to my nerves. I found a bed of eider-down,— just as soft as it is reputed to an Among the Water Fowl , bc,--and in it three greenish olive eggs.-the larger laid by any of the Ducks, nearly as^fa ge as Se cggs,-were very cosily bedded. ^ EncTnr T ''°"'*' ^' ^" '°"'*^ ^* »°"thcrn New Eng and all we can hope to find of breeding Ducks are the Dusky and the Wood Ducks, and It is no easy matter to find even these. Usuilly it Ire by accident than otherwise. On Martha's Vine^rd I was once exploring an alder swamp for the home of a pair of Marsh Hawks, when a grelt Dusky ^.ZJ'^'^^'^K^^^rrcd up from beneath an alder' almost ,n my face, and I found my first Duck' s7con"d H " 7? '°^^" '"^ '^^'- ^^'- -- 'L second day of June, and they were almost ready to hatch. An- other time when I was exploring the rushy edge of a pond in Con- necticut, I no- ticed a dark place under some rushes that looked suspici- ously like Duck- that, indeed, and on pulling it apartTfound^de™ warm eggs of the Dusky Duck the ^fhe ^'!?^ ^"''^ " '^' '"^^^ ^^'""^'c of all pected place, close to human habitations. I knew feetlrom '!r ' ^"°V*^o/e of a large maple, only si^ feet from the ground, right on a well-traveled road 212 •ON PULLING IT APART I FOUND ELEVEN WARM BCG9 OFTHEDU5ltrDU«." FOUND ,N «NTCONN Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl near a house. Hearing of a Duck being seen about a certain farmer's barn, I climbed up on top of his hay-mow, -the middle of May, it was-and dis- covered a female Wood Duck sitting on ten eggs in a hollow she had dug in the hay and lined wifh down from her breast. She went in and out of a hole near the eaves. The farmer said that during her laying time she was absent all day, but at night she and her mate sat on the ridge-pole of the roof, and each morning when he entered the barn to milk she flew out, having deposited another egg since the evening before. Another equally interest- ing bird,— possibly the same one,— made a nest the next season in a barn two miles from this one, and the farmer caught her on the nest. The eggs are small and rather round, shiny, and of a beautiful rich cream -color. The Wood Duck finishes her laying, in southern New England, by the middle of May, the Dusky Duck usually by the last of April. Altogether, I have found the nests and eggs of nineteen species of Ducks and seen the young of one other. A very interesting study it has been to me, and I look upon these opportunities as an inestimable privilege, which it was given not even to the great Audubon to enjoy. The breeding habits of most of these Ducks in his day were abso- lutely unknown, and even to the present little has appeared in books about them. I have also enjoyed making a study of the Ducks that come in the migratory flight to Massa- 213 Among the Water Fowl chusetts. This has meant many a watching with hunters in the Duck-stands on various ponds, chasing the Ducks on the ocean, or waiting in a gunning-line for them to come to me. It is very exciting to watch the approach of a flock to one o* these "stands," or "bowers," on the shore of a pond. The flock first flies over and begins to circle around the pond. The live decoys set up their hoarse clamor of invitation. At length they splash down out in the middle of the pond near the "blocks" or wooden decoys. Looking cautiously about,, they get their bearings, and begin to listen to the decoys. They do not always yield to the treachery, but when they once are deceived they swim in a body at a rapid rate right for the stand. Suddenly the guns, pointed through loopholes, blaze out at a concerted signal and there is meat for the hunters' table. A great many are thus taken in the ponds of southeastern Massachusetts and elsewhere. The best season is throughout October, especially about the middle, after a storm, when a cold northwest gale starts up. How they will fly, flock after flock, not only in early morning and late afternoon, as at ordi- nary times, but all day. Many kinds will be found represented in the number of the slain. Late in October the stands make ready for the Canada Geese, some of them keeping large flocks of tame Geese, bred from wild stock, for decoys. Some of these decoys are wild birds that have been winged by shot. In a few days such cripples will become completely domesticated, and even eventu- ally breed in captivity. November is the time for 214 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl the "wild Goose chase," and until the ponds freeze up. If the migrating flocks are overtaken by thick or stormy weather and alight in the ponds, they are apt to fall easy prey. I have known of literally cart- loads being taken off from these ponds after a night of this kind. * The staple, standard fowl for the hunter is the Dusky, or -Black" Duck, excellent for the table and one of the wariest of them all. Next to it in abundance, of the fresh-water Ducks, is the hand- some Wood Duck. With these two, as residents, the hunting season begins, and they are about all the Ducks we have until with the early frosts the mi- grants begin to appear. Pintails, Mallards, and Red- beads come as often as any of this migratory class, bometimes when I have watched through a loophole in the stand" a bunch of Mallards or Redheads out on the pond, the green or red heads of the males ghstening in the sunlight, I have felt that the staid old New England pond was being born again, buch glories seemed foreign— unnatural to it I wish It were possible that for five years, say, Duck- shooting could absolutely cease, and the ponds be again populated as they once were. Baldpatcs come rather sparingly usually single ones with other Ducks, whi e the Gadwall, Shoveler, and Canvas- back are only rare stragglers now. I fear this may some day be the case with the little Ruddy Duck that comes --when it does come -in considerable Hocks, and allows gunners to row up and extermi- nate them I have often known cases in which, out of a large flock, not a single individual got out of the pond alive. ai5 ! i 2l6 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl Though the Scaupi arc clatied icientifically among the "Sea Ducks," they seem to me to be found almost as much on fresh water as on salt. A great many of the Greater and Lesser Scaup frequent the large ponds, and take good care of themselves, not minding the decoys nor allowing themselves to be approached. I have seen, and taken, the Ring-necked Scaup occasionally. The other Sea Ducks that come into the ponds, espe- cially during the easterly storms, do not fare so well. I refer to the three Scoters and the Oldsquaw, or Long-tailed Duck. They seem bewildered, and will not usually leave, though it cost them their lives. The gunners soon see them, and paddle toward them down -wind. The foolish Ducks wait for a fusillade in the water, and then secure another, ris- ing toward the boat. At length all are killed but stragglers, which are followed up and shot sepa- rately. Last fall, on October ii, I happened to be in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, near Lake Buell, and began to hear accounts of wonderful Duck- shooting in the lake that day. Almost every family in the community had Ducks hanging up in the shed,— Surf and White-winged Scoters. There had been a storm the day before, and toward night an immense flock of these Scoters, probably lost and wearied, settled down into the lake. Many were killed that night and the next day. A hundred and fifty-eight was the number of "casualties" reported. Wild Geese are also addicted to similar wanderings and disasters, especially in sleet storms, during their flight. At such a time a flock of them, when I was a boy, descended into our gar- 217 Among the Water Fowl den, in the luburbi of Boston, and spent the night under the currant buiheii We did not know of it at the time, and our big dog kept some would*be pot-hunteri at bay, lo the Geete escaped. With the three Mergansers, especially the Hooded and the Goosander, the little BufHe-head, the Amer- ican Golden-eye, and the rare Barrows' Golden-eye, the list is possibly exhausted of the Ducks that come into the New England lakes and ponds. But the seacoast is full of interest and wonders in that direc- tion. South of Maine the Harlequin Duck and the King Eider are so rare as to hardly enter into this account, though I have personally known of their capture on the Massachusetts coast. One of the fine coastwise sights is the spring flight of the Eiders. During the early days of April, a mile or two off the Chatham bars, I have seen long lines of them, coming all the time, pass by on their way north. Each flock is led by a male, — a striking creature with his white back, black under -parts, and greenish head. The brown females alternate with the males more or less irregularly, and the string of the large, swiftly moving fowl, fifty to a hundred or more in number, is an impressive sight. If the wind happens to come on strong from the southeast during this period, they often fly well in around Monomoy Point, and are shot from the beach by men concealed in pits. I have often seen the flocks, hungry on their travels, turn into Chatham bay and feed on the mussel-flats. There, ulso, the Brant Geese resort in lar^c 218 WiLD-FowL or WiLD-F OWL «rT„^"i* • ' *"?! ^"^^^"^ ^°^''* °' «»»«"^ that extended in a solid mass for literally acres. Thev arc exceedingly shy, and though such a flock will always rise a long distance away, the roar of the ?Ki;^7!"^K'°'"Ji '° °"" " '^^ »°""d °* thunder. The flats about Monomoy Point arc notable as the great Brant -shooting ground of New England, where the shy fowl are taken by mean, of shooting- boxes sunk in the sandbars, which Utter are often artificially made for this purpose. A big string of .Jahl' ^'tu n^""' ""' ^" '^' baggage-car is a familiar figm. 1 he Brant are also taken in the fall flight in the various "cooting-lines" along the coast. I have seen hordes of them there pass by, but they the end of the line, much to the disappointment of Kfr^Jk" u ^ ''°^"\ ^"* ^"y ' *^^«««"'y thought that the Brant were about to violate their safe cus- tom A fine bunch were flying low, and coming right for the boat next to mine. I fairly held my breath, as I expect did the two men in that boat rhe Brant were within a hundred yards, and seemed doomed, when some one fired a shot at a passing Loon, and the Geese turned and went back I saw one of the men take off his c.p and hurl it down at the bottom of the boat in . age Another of the prime wild-fowl sights of such bays as Chatham is the exit of the Oldsquaws at sundown. They feed during the winter days up at the head of the bay. To see or shoot them, one should anchor in a skiflF in the middle of some narrow channel. At length there will come a con- fused chorus of weird cries, resembling the music 219 t V Among the Water Fowl notice the hno. J T ?^ ^'^ "°^ *^^*y« '^^em tt> down, I have been amazed at the distance that it. momentum will carry it, ricochetting over the wate sea a^n'Lr '7' V"' '"'"" "> "« °" "-e oTen tation On '7m " i^/ '" ""'" "'« ''o™ "ok,- wa er an? ,1, ' K '" ""'J" '''«y"t '» flock, on the water and their chatter, which often seem, to re- solve Itself mto major third,, is ,o me o« o° the 1 he Golden-eye, al,o feed in the Lays, and hid- ^t"h wo„rT'' """""'" "« "" to' hem up with wooden decoy,, and have good ,port As .pnng approach.,, the Sheldrakes? or Mer«n,e« ouf-the ^.''•''•''""'f"'' ''«°"« '«-"^Z"r: crestTd hea?^ """ f '"'"'* "">• "'eir green- Channel, the fishermen turn from fish to fowling. 220 WlLD-FoWI. OF WiLD-FoWt and clad in white, build ice-sunds along the ed« of the channel, and shoot large numbers of ,h! unwming fowl that follow the fane oTwater ' The coastwise spring migration becomes appar- .n he fir"sf h!iV'r a"","' **"">• ""^es its hefght n May he 1 ''"'' "".'^ " Poetically over early flock, of rh/r!°", '"^l"^ ""* '"8« 'oi'oring nocks of the Scoters, late breeders as they aoDear S° ;■ •.,""" ".'"" "'«•« "' """"" flockTof mate ter r," / T '" '" W""nce as early as the la ! er part of August. Then in September ,on4 of tm OctT """!,"• ■"" ">"' "' "o fSrea, number the?™« h '"'' ""• "" "*"'y Noyember, or unt the frosts become seyere, do some of th^ h^rAi sea Ducks and the Geese arriye There ,„ . / erahU Aift^, • , *'"^*^' * nere are consid- fion of the wind has much to do with his wJh J ..rong «H„d blowing on shore, most of thl fly close .„, while on calm day, they are apt to be fw ou, a^d'pT'- '"T '"'""• « "•« Scoter,, Old "a^ and Elders, ordmarily fly low over the witer .h„,?r^ .hey often will rise if they suspec dan«r^hSe the Mergansers Scaups. Golden!eye, oXv^^^^' and most of the other,, are api to fly h^h .he^rbrfi:;-.^ 'bne:'„'° "-"• '»- •"">" .n »k» k • 1. / . "^ ^^^^ »" migration, even in the height of the season <;,..«-. j i ' birds are c.^« ^nc season, borne days almost no frnrl^' strengthening east wind preceding a storm IS a great time for a flight. An east wind is 221 Among the Water Fowl rnnLh f^'T «°°^' ^^^^"g*^ « » apt to make the sea rough for boats The gunners at Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, thmk that the first day of a southeri; ZZ h.Inr/1'^' best ti^cs. Low temperature also ^ helps to keep the fowl on the move The worst wfth a'; %' ^''^'^"/ p^^^^^"^' -"- '^y^ "»- o a factor Tu'l ^*°^' ^^' ''""' °^ '^' ^^^ " -»»<> «r. ?K K '',?/" "^^ ^'^ **^''*^<^ ^'^^^ after dawn are the best Often fowl fly well all the morning but usually by noon, or at the latest the middle of the afternoon the flight is about over, though occasional flocks may be seen till dusk. Under the head of the Scoters, or -Coots," as 1 he Surf Scoter 18 the commonest. The handsome M ^'^^^!c^^''*'"^ °" ^b« h"d, is popularly called the "Skunk-head Coot," as though it were a different species from its mate and young, which are known as the common "Gray Coot." Next in abundance is the " White-winged Coot," distin- gu«hab.e by its larger size and white bar on each u?' ^ . '"'''" plumage of the male is black, while the females and young are of a duller, more "^'^ Sf • . ^.*"' y" ^"""^y common, is the Ameri- can or Black Scoter, nicknamed "Butter-bill Coot " on account of the conspicuous patch of yellow skin at the base of the bill, about the color of a lump of butter It is only the male that has this and is thus named, its whole plumage being deep black The female and young are confused with those of the burf Scoter under the name of " Gray Coot " The best way to tell them apart-which very few gunners can do-is by the bill, the plumage being a good 222 Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl deal alike. The Surf Scoter, whatever the age or 8CX, has a large, swollen sort of bill, whereas the bill of the other species is more like that of the Dusky or "Black" Duck. Besides the Scoters, the Oldsquaws and Red- breasted Mergansers, or Sheldrakes, are the other two most common species encountered in this line- shooting, though various other Ducks are sometimes obtained. The other kinds, except the Eiders, are more accustomed to fly high, and will not mind decoys on the open sea. The Golden-eyes and Scaups, or "Blue-bills," are usually rather common. They ordinarily fly high and keep away from the boats. The Mergansers, too, like high flights, but often break this rule— to their sorrow. It is a very singular habit of some of these fowl when flying high over a gunner, upon his utterance of a shout or a shrill whistle, suddenly to check their onward flight and pitch or drop almost straight down, thus putting themselves in range of the deadly fusillade 1 wish I could adequately describe a scene which I witnessed on the old Pilgrim coast at Manomet one 5th of November. Flying gray clouds covered the sky. The wind was northeast, and increasing every hour. A few boats went out early but soon came in, as the seas were becoming dangerous. Low over the frothing ocean flew lines and clouds of wild-fowl, scudding from the north before the blasts. They were in sight all the time. Before one flock had passed southward, several more were to be seen coming, at times six or eight flocks in sight at once. By ten the rain began to beat spite- fully on our faces as we stood on the bluff with 223 Among the Water Fowl noo„^^"•^7".'""« '^""« ''" her passion. B, noon the wind had reached hurricane force FlocS o owl were fairly hurled in over the rocks nnl^ of .hem to be shot down by the "station" me? «"tl'?h "'"' T' "^y I made r effort o' estimate the number of that day's flicht Thm, The'suTthun'd""".""' '""'--'-"of aU ^'d" of sVrav fl,J^ '"' '"."P"" "« "><=>"' »-"» clouds tl^A^ "? ""^ 'he top of the bluff. It was Lll '" "T'"' "'Sht. Wakeful we lay in ou" ^r: tL';Zi 'thetirt mt; "' "^"^'-^ In the mo^rnin *:ht''lTenl7thrr and stepped out, a blast struck me that made me easo for breath and cling to the railing. Blind"5 S were Z"/„""'' ' r"'" "">' '« «''«''" ^wl Toeared i- "°'< ^ ""g^boring barn had dis- the PoTnt' 7^ "' "K""" on the rocks around ,,rhT ^™'yhing was white with snow. Win- ter had come upon land, ocean, and wild-fowl YOUNC DUSKY DUCK. MACDALBM IILANDS