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160 THE CONDOR VoL XX 0n May 18, 1918, we visited the ground covered last year, and after tramp- ing until hot and weary, entered the auto for a rest, slowly running the ma- chine back and forth across the prairie. A bird was finally spotted, sitting bolt upright on its nest, but twenty or thirty yards distant. After watching for a while, Ludwig, my assistant, cantiously approached with the camera to within perhaps thirty feet, when the bird left the nest, which contained, as usual, three eggs. Then followed an unusual demonstration to attract the pho- tographer from the vicinity. Spreading her wings horizontally to their ex- treme width while standing, then falling fiat with her neck and wings extend- ed their full length on the ground, at times with beak open (see figure 26), she retreated as he approached, or followed closely as he returned towards the nest. These antics were repeated until finally the camera was set up with one foot of the tripod within a foot or so of the nest, with a view of getting an exposure through the use of a string attachment. During the focusing of the camera the bird exhibited great agitation, dane- Fig. 28. ?OU?TAI? PLOVEB A?BOACI{ING I{EB E?S (I? LEFT FOBEG?U?D). ing and jumping about Ludwig and the nest with wings rapidly opening and cl?ing as if intending a direct attack. She finally settled on the eggs facing the camera. Desiring a picture showing the bird in action, Ludwig would gently sw?g his foot before her, sometimes touching her bill, when she would jump sidewise, fo?ard or backward, and with bill open and wings snappily opeuing and closing, attack his foot. So rapid were her morons as she da?ed in and out of focus that it was difficult to get a perfect picture. (See figure '27.) Two of us were lounging on the gro?d about thirty feet away during ?his performance. But one bird w? present on this occasion; when the eggs were blown they proved to be about one-half advanced in incubation. 0n May 22, in the same vicinity and under similar con?tio?, we spotted a bird running about forty feet ahead of the machine. A short search soon located the nest and eggs, and Mr. Figgi?, my companion on this trip, spent considerable time in an u?uccessful effort to photograph the bird. She evi- denced no interest or solicitude wha?oever, but continued short runs just out