148 Bird - Lore
pour out their unmusical notes, or skulking out of sight below on the ap- proach of danger: but frequently we saw them in small scattered flocks, following along the furrows made by the ranchman‘s plow in the neighbor- ing wheat fields. Two or three pairs of Nlarsh Hawks frequented the
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slough. but the Blackbirds never learned to trust them, harmless as they were, for whenever one of the Hawks flew out over the slough the Black- birds would rise in a great cloud, cackling loudly, fly about in great confu> sion for a few minutes, and then settle down into the reeds again.
Their nests were securely fastened to the tall reeds two or three feet above the water, with but little attempt at concealment ; they were rather bulky, deeply hollowed and well made of coarse, dry reeds firmly woven together, and neatly lined with coarse grass of a peculiar bufiy color. Three or four finely spotted eggs made up the usual set.
Next to the Blackbirds in importance came the American Coots, which were always much in evidence, noisy, lively, and interesting. We were constantly starting them from their nests and sending them spattering off through the reeds to the open water, where they would swim about and watch us from a safe distance Occasionally, if we kept quiet, one would swim hack to play about in the water near us, with the head lowered until the bill almost touched the water and with the wings elevated behind like a swan's, often backing water with both feet, and thus raising the body backwards out of the water, splashing noisily all the time and grunting a loud gutteral "Kruk, kruk."
Their favorite nesting haunts were among the more open, scattered reeds and rushes, whch they built their bulky piles of dead flags and rubbish in the shallow water, forming a rather neat, shallow nest two or
