Page:Condor20(4).djvu/11

July, 1918 A RETURN TO THE DAKOTA LAKE REGION 137 was seen perching on a good outpost, on top of a bare dead tree crowning the high bank above the lake; and again one was seen flying in from across the lake, perhaps from a foraging trip for the evening meal of the young. The young were evidently well cared for. In coming up the beach past their perch- ing stumps ! found pieces of ground squirrel fur and bones on the ground. There must have been five young for when three had been seen by the lake, as I was going down through the woods toward the great tree containing the ancestral home, two others blundered out, crying in terrified infantile tones quite out of keeping with their big bodies. Those by the lake had been well guarded by the parent perched high on the bare tree top commanding the lake shore. Big, vital, powerful bird, he seemed a Prince of Hawks, indeed! With keen searching gaze he had leaned down looking at me, showing his small compressed head, aquiline bill, and fer- ruginous, leathered legs. What a contrast in form and bearing to the other brown, white-rumped hawk the Marsh Hawk--seen flying low, face down, around the neighborhood ! The keen.eyed Archiburro guarding his young made a wide inspecting swoop from the bluff in my direction and then silently dis- appeared. What a satisfaction that the patriarchal nest of these noble birds still honors th? traditions of "Hawk's l?est" ! A worthy home they have chos- en with its old over-topping trees commanding the lake. And what a beautiful lake! In contrast to the Sweetwater Lakes with their shaded and marsh bordered shores, the charm of this large bare lake with its long sandspits at the turns of the bays was very great. Especially beautiful was it in the evening light when, in the west a wide band of orange light glowed above the green trees, which shadowed the bay, the eastern shore as it sloped widely back glowed green, and soft sunset lights rested on the open face of the water. A line of seoters swam out on the white water, a hawk flew steadily across the width of the lake, and my friends walked along the shore picking up choice stones and interesting bits of petrified wood, while ! delighted in the beauty of open water and sky. And what glorious nights! The screened porch was so high that it was almost equal to sleeping under the stars in camp, and in the cool pure night air, with the sky full of glistening stars, after the enclosing walls of a house it seemed like a return to an old loved home. We gazed up at the shining host, the bigness and wonder of the unnumbered worlds beyond ours growing upon us till my friend exclaimed, with awe in her voice, "To think they are all out in space ! ' ' (To be continued.)