112 TH]? CONDOR . Vol. XXI. never seen near by and had been watching for all summer, so I looked keenly at its fiat, narrow, fisherman's bill, its knob-like suggestion of a crest, its up- turned tail, and the light line along its side.' Would that I could have seen an adult male with his spectacular black and white wheel crest! This one, as quiet as it was inconspicuous, failed to do anything notable, and soon passed out of sight. Was it merely a wanderer? Another day, as I looked down, some Pied-bills and a close group of Shov- ellers were feeding below me. One of the Pied-bills, after diving came up right in the midst of the group of Shov'ellers, startling one so that it gave a quick jump back. The water weeds were so close below the surface here that the
Ducks fed without tipping up, merely putting their heads under water.
Some stones on the shore were favorite resting places of the Canvasbacks and other large Ducks, which, sitting on them, looked very round and comfort- able. One of the Canvasbacks on the water near by, all unconscious of observ- ers, preened itself, scratched its ear with a webbed foot, and tossed up a swal- low of water. The old females rode with matronly dignity, head held high, and bill often tilted up a little as if watching the bank above. A warning gut- turai note from a motherly old one who had come swimming up with a grown son, called my attention to the fact that I was being closely observed, and as I looked, the responsible parent flew, low over the water, away up around the bend beyond recognition. Her independent son, however, did not think it ne- cessary to follow, and later, apparently went back to his brothers down the Coulee. Twice I saw below me what must have been an Eared Grebe, either a young one or an adult in fall plumage. It sat solitary as they so often do, turning its head to look at me, its pointed crest and white throat reflected beneath it. When a young Coot came along, the exquisitely modelled throat of the Grebe made the poor heavily-built Coot suddenly fall in the scale of beauty. A black tug boat beside a white-rigged sail boat naturally suffers. But the tug boat nevertheless has its assured place in the world! Standing on the crest of the bank with my back to the water, one .day, I w'as conscious of some large bird flying away with a low grunting noise, and turning discovered a brown Bittern erossing the stream, evidently having risen from the tules on the edge of the water below me, for it let itself down into the marshy border of the opposite bank. Silent, mysterious birds, how the knowl- edge of their presence enriched the banks of the Conlee! But this little river was not merely the resort-of those living along its banks. Swallows were often seen flying over it and it was frequently visited
by passing water fowl. Flocks of Ducks, Black Tern, and Snipe often whirled
by, the Snipe with their perfect team work giving a charming flash of white. Late one afternoon a flock of thirty or forty Black Tern trooped in, black- headed adults and parti-colored young. Along the wire f?nee leading down into the lake arose a confusion of fluttering wings and tongues, the voluble young trying 'to get seated, talking in hoarse over-strained voices, as if they had been at it since early dawn--as they doubtless had. The flock was in constant mo- tion. Sometimes a large band would sweep down and pass beyond on long gray wings, the young, retreating white spindles; then all would come trooping back, talking sociably as they came, skimming over the water like Swallows. The most skillful would dip down daintily in passing, while others?both old and young--would halt and light on the water a moment to pick up what, it would
