Wild-Fowl of Wild-Fowl 



Day," and three of us were exploring a patch of 

 timber near the shore of a Dakota lake. Seeing a 

 knot-hole in an oak tree, about fifteen feet from the 

 ground, with a 

 piece of white 

 down clinging to 

 its edge, I called 

 to my friend to 

 come and in- 

 spect it, as a 

 probable nest of 

 the American 

 Golden - eye 

 Duck. No soon- 

 er were we all 

 under the tree 

 than we saw, 

 through a lower 

 crack, a movement within. Directly a brown head 

 appeared at the entrance, and the Golden-eye pro- 

 ceeded to come forth. But she had a hard time 

 of it. The hole was so small that a slender human 

 arm could hardly be inserted. The poor Duck 

 had to wriggle and twist back and forth like a 

 snake, I should think for ten seconds, ere she was 

 able to emerge and take to wing. It was a sin- 

 gular and interesting sight. Then I climbed the 

 tree and found that about two feet below the hole, 

 in a bed of soft, snowy down, there were ten large 

 fresh eggs of a greenish color. The cavity was so 

 small that they had to be piled in two layers. It 

 must have been the scarcity of suitable holes that 

 compelled the Duck to submit to such discomfort. 



197 



BUT IT IS NOT ONLY AMID GRASS AND RUSHES THAT 

 THE NESTS OF DUCKS ARE FOUND." NEST OF AMER- 

 ICAN GOLDEN- EYE IN THE KNOT-HOLE, CONTAIN- 

 ING SEVEN EGGS 



