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132 Vol. XX A I?ETUI?N TO THE DAKOTA LAKE l?EGION By FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY (Continued from page 114.) III. AMONG OLD FRIENDS HE TIME to find water birds on Stump Lake, as I had learned on my pre- vious visit, is during the wonderful 'northern flight' in late fall; but as I must leave North Dakota before that, I went there for a week in the mid- dle o? July, hoping to find nests of the White-winged Scorer and to be able to explore the surrounding marshes within easy reach by the Ford that the good people of Hawk's l?est, with whom I had stayed before, had now equipped themselves. But just before my arrival, such heavy rains fell that the country was all afloat--from one point thirteen rich ultramarine rain pools were seen in the wheat fields ! The road from the station'over which we were glad to be able to make our way with horse and buggy, had to be abandoned at intervals for temporary roads through grain fields, and a place was pointed out where, when road work was resumed on a submerged grade, a horse mired, and on struggling slipped into the slough beside the grade, almost drowning before another horse could be hitched to him to haul him out. It was evidently a poor time or automobile. explorations. There was much to enjoy, however, ?from the green billowy terraces of the old glacial moraines to the wide band of greenwood back of the lake rich with memories of nesting:owls an?l. Purple Martins, together with the smell of new mown hay that came gratefully on the soft breeze after storms. ? All these and the kindly welcome and hospitality accorded me by my white-haired friend and her daughters made my week among old friends, both arian and human, a delightful one. On reaching the lake,'the White-winged Scoters were my first concern. l?emembering that I had been told that they sometimes nested in silver-leaf bushes along the shore, I started out to look for them, accompanied by the riend who had helped me photograph nestling Marsh Hawks on my previous visit, a little girl, and two bird dogs which, in running around after Prairie Hens and other game, would be likely to discover Scoters if they were there. Walking along different terraces to cover more ground, we followed the lake shore or two or three miles until, on coming opposite the bird islands where the game warden said the Scoters were nesting, we discovered a pair of the Ducks making their way over to the islands. The lake was rough with white- capped rollers and they swam for some time against a current that would have made rowing hard work. Finally the black drake gave up and flew low across the water to the island, but the duck kept on swimming, rocking along with surprising rapidity. As we watched her closely with the glasses, it did not seem such hard work after all. She'would ride up on the ridging wave, cut the foam with bill straight ahead of her, and then slide down on the other ?ide, making it a chute-the-chute performance. One or two more pairs of Sco- ters were seen during the morning, but the strong north wind had driven most of the swimmers to harbor. Early the next morning when a wide glittering sun path was gradually re- treating with the rising sun, four Scoters started to come to shore. One female