LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL 155 



Eggs. — The ruddy duck is said to lay as many as 19 or 20 eggs, 

 but such large sets are not common; the numbers usually run from 

 6 to 9 or 10. The eggs are often deposited in two layers and with 

 the largest numbers in three layers; it is obviously impossible for 

 so small a duck to cover any large number of such large eggs. The 

 indications are that in the more southern portions of its range two 

 broods may be raised in a season, which seems to be very much 

 prolonged. William G. Smith says in his notes that he has taken 

 young birds in the down as late as October 16 in Colorado. The 

 eggs are distinctive and could hardly be mistaken for anything else. 

 They vary somewhat in shape from short ovate to elongate ovate, 

 or from oval to elliptical oval. The shell is thick and decidedly 

 rough and granular, much more so than any other duck's Qgg. When 

 first laid the eggs are pure, dull white or creamy white, but they 

 become more or less stained during incubation. The measurements 

 of 80 eggs, in the United States National Museum and the writer's 

 collections, average 62.3 by 45.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the 

 four extremes measure 67.6 by 44.5, 66.5 by 48, 59.4 by 45.4, and 61.3 

 by 42.6 millimeters. 



Young. — The period of incubation seems to be unknown, but it is 

 probably not far from 30 days. It is apparently performed by the 

 female alone, although the male does not desert the female at this 

 season, and, contrary to the rule among ducks, he remains with the 

 young family and helps care for them until they are fully grown. 

 Dr. Alexander Wetmore writes to me as follows : 



The male ruddy ducks in most instances remain with the females after the 

 young hatch, and it is a common sight to see a male, with tail erect and breast 

 and throat puffed out, swimming at the head of a 'brood of newly hatched 

 young in a compact flock, while the female follows behind. When such families 

 are approached the adults submerge quietly and disappear with no demonstra- 

 tion whatever, while the young, left to their own devices, make off as rapidly 

 as possible, still maintaining their close formation. Only when seriously 

 threatened do they dive and then scatter. As they grow older the young birds 

 become more independent, and usually when half grown are found separated 

 from their parents. Occasionally, however, well-grown young are found with 

 the female. Young as well as adults are more or less helpless on land, re- 

 sembling grebes in this respect. Young birds half grown were able to waddle 

 a few steps, but fell on the breast almost at once and then usually progressed 

 by shoving along in a prostrate position with both feet stroking together. 

 These half-grown birds were sullen and ferocious, and none that I had became 

 tame at all. They invariably snapped and bit at my fingers when handled, 

 and with open mouths resented every approach. When first hatched, the feet 

 of these birds are truly enormous in proportion to the size of the body and 

 form a certain index to the future activities of the ducklings. 



According to Maj. Allan Brooks (1903), the "young when first 

 hatched are, as might be expected, very large, and dive for their 



