BIRDS OF KANSAS. 75 



flattering iiiiiiiatnre. Thej frequently prefer walking on an in- 

 clined log or the fallen trunk of a tree, one end of which lies in 

 the w^ater while the other rests on the steep bank, to betaking 

 themselves to flight at the sight of an approaching enemy. In 

 this manner I have seen a whole flock walk from the water into 

 the woods, as a steamer was approaching them in the eddies of 

 the Ohio or Mississippi. They swim and dive well, when 

 wounded and closely pursued, often stopping at the edge of the 

 water with nothing above it but the bill, but at other times run- 

 ning a considerable distance into the woods or hiding in a cane- 

 brake beside a log. In such places I have often found them, 

 having been led to their place of concealment by my dog. 

 When frightened they rise by a single spring from the water, 

 and are as apt to make directly for the woods as to follow the 

 stream. When they discover an enemy while under the cover 

 of shrubs or other plants, on a pond, instead of taking to wing 

 they swim off in silence among the thickest weeds, so as gener- 

 erally to elude your search by landing and running over a nar- 

 row piece of ground to another pond. In autumn a whole 

 covey may often be seen standing or sitting on a floating log 

 pluming and cleaning themselves for hours. On such occasions 

 the knowing sportsman commits great havoc among them, kill- 

 ing half a dozen or more at a shot." 



The birds nest in holes in trees on or near the banks of 

 streams, usually in a trough-like cavity of a large, broken limb, 

 lined sparingly with grass, weeds or leaves, and a few feathers 

 with down. Eggs six to fifteen, 2.00x1.50; cream to buflf 

 white, smoothly polished; in form, oval to ovate. A set of 

 seven eggs, taken June 4th, 1887, in Blackhawk county, Iowa, 

 out of a hole in a stub, seven feet from the ground, are, in di. 

 mensions: 2.02x1.50, 1.99x1.50, 2.02x1.54, 2.00x1.51, 1.98x 

 1.52, 1.93x1.49, 1.99x1.50. I have found them nesting in the 

 Neosho valley, Kansas, in large elm and sycamore trees, at least 

 seventy feet from the ground. When the nests are too high 

 for the little ones to drop in safety, the mother carries them, 

 one at a time, in her bill to the water's edge. 



