52 Kl^LT.KTIN' 12<i. rMTKI) STATKS NATIONAL ]MUSEUM. 



or grassy meadows, along the shores of ponds, in tluckets of under- 

 brush or even hi the borders of the woods near sneh places. The nest 

 is general}}^ ])lrtced in dry grouiul, but usually not very far from the 

 water. The first nest I found was in the Magdalen Islands on June 2 1 , 

 1904. It was in the center of a little islet or " nubble " in a small pond 

 hole in the East Point mai"shes, a favorite breeding ]>lace of this and 

 other ducks. The nest was prettily located and well concealed in a 

 thick clump of tall dead grass; the hollow in the ground was lined 

 V, ith dry grass and only a little down, as the eight eggs that it con- 

 tained M'ere fresh; as with other ducks, more down would be added as 

 incubation advanced. On another similar " nubble," two days later, 

 we noticiid a pathway leading through the grass to a clump of low bay- 

 berr}^ bushes, and on investigation we unearthed a black duck's nest 

 with four eggs completely buried under the dry bayberry leaves and 

 rubbish; the eggs were perfectly concealed under natural surround- 

 ings and there was nothing to indicate a nest except the obscure path- 

 way. 



Audubon (1840) found nests in Labrador — 



embedded in the deep moss, at the distance of a low leet or > ards from the water. 

 They were composed of a threat ([uantity of dry grass and otiier vegetable substances; 

 and the eggs were always placed directly on this bed without the intervention of the 

 down and feathers, which, however, surrounded them, and which the bird always 

 uses to cover them wlien she is about to leave the nest for a lime. 



Mr. M. A. Frazar (1887) reported the nests that he found, in the 

 same region, as '' being generally placed upon the ou treadling 

 branches of stunted siiruces." Mr. John Macoun (1909) publishes 

 an account of a nest, found by Rev. C. J. Young near Brockville, 

 Ontario, on May 24, 1897. on the edge of a floating bog; he writes: 



The place where the nest was made was not exactly wet, as there was a matted 

 foundation of dry weeds among which it was well concealed, composed of dr}- grass 

 and well lined with the down of the bird. Incubation had commenced about a 

 week, which would make the time of commencing to lay al)out the first week in May 

 in this case. 



I have never succeeded in finding a nest in New England, but Mr. 

 E. A. Samuels (18S3) gives a satisfactory account of the nesting habits 

 here, as follows : 



The nest is built about the last week in April or the first in May. It is placed in 

 a secluded locality in a tussock of grass, or beneath a thicket of briers or weeds; 

 usually in a meadow, near a pond or stream, but sometimes in a swamp in which a 

 small brook is the only water for miles around. This species sometimes follows these 

 small brooks up to their som-ces; and 1 once found one with a nest on a low stuni|) 

 that overhung a small spring on the side of a hill, a mile from any other water. 

 The neat of this species is constructed of pieces of grass and weeds, which are neatly 

 arranged into a structure 18 inches in diameter on the outside, and 3 or 4 in depth. 

 This is hollowed for perhaps an inch and u half or 2 inclies, and lined with the do-\^ n 

 and feathers from the breast of the parent bird. 



