ooses a thin tuft of grass on a level spot, but often in an
open place concealed by only a few straggling blades. He scratches a
shallow depression in the soft earth, lines it with a thin layer of
fragments of old grass blades, upon which the eggs, three or four,
are laid about the last of May or first of June. Owing to the low
situation in which the nest is placed, the first set of eggs are often
destroyed by a heavy fall of rain causing the water to rise so as to
submerge the nest. The instinct of self preservation in these birds,
as in many others, seems lacking in this respect. A second set,
numbering two or three, is often deposited in a depression scratched
in the ground, as at first, but with no sign of any lining.

Wilson's Phalarope is exclusively an American bird, more common in
the interior than along the sea coast. The older ornithologists knew
little of it. It is now known to breed in northern Illinois, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Utah, and Oregon. It is recorded as
a summer resident in northern Indiana and in western Kansas. Mr. E. W.
Nelson states that it is the most common species in northern Illinois,
frequenting grassy marshes and low prairies, and is not exceeded in
numbers even by the ever-present Spotted Sandpiper. While it was one
of our most common birds in the Calumet region it is now becoming
scarce.

The adult female of this beautiful species is by far the handsomest of
the small waders. The breeding plumage is much brighter and richer
than that of the male, another peculiar characteristic, and the male
alone possesses the naked abdomen. The female always remains near the
nest while he is sitting, and shows great solicitude upon the approach
of an intruder. The adults assume the winter plumage during July.

THE EVENING GROSBEAK.

Handsomer birds there may be, but in the opinion of many this visitant
to various portions of western North America is in shape, color, and
markings one of the most exquisite of the feather-wearers. It has for
its habitation the region extending from the plains to the Pacific
ocean and from Mexico into British America. Toward the North it ranges
further to the east; so that, while it appears to be not uncommon
about Lake Superior, it has been reported as occuring in Ohio, New
York, and Canada. In Illinois it was observed at Freeport during the
winter of 1870 and 1871, and at Waukegan during January, 1873. It is a
common resident of the forests