788 THE WOOD DUCK. 



Irc'C, ill a large (Ifscricil W'c m idpeckcr h<>li', nr in a central Imlldw of some tree 

 to which athnission may he gainecl thru a cre\ ice. Those lioles which i)\-er- 

 look water are jirelerred. hiil in the ahsence of these the bride and jfroom will 

 sometimes take up residence a half a mile from the nearest swamp or stream. 

 Within the chosen hollow, from eight to seventeen eggs, "resembling old pol- 

 ished i\ory," are i)laced on a cushion of grasses, leaves, feathers, and down. 

 Occasionally the entrance to the hole is so narrow that the female in visiting 

 her eggs is obliged to spend some time in s(|ueezing thru. As the female sits 

 for four weeks, the male mounts guard in a neighboring tree and apprises her 

 of ajjproaching danger by a strange cry, "or-rck," like the crowing of a young 

 cock. 



\\ hen the young are hatched, they instinctively scramble to the moutii of 

 the hole and tumble out, or are urged out by the mother, falling either into the 

 recepti\'e water, or upon tiie carpet of leaves at the foot of the nesting tree. If 

 the distance is too great, the niotlier will carry the youngsters to the ground in 

 her bill one at a time, until all are out. and then lead them to the nearest water. 



Mr. J. W. Edwards, a well-known pioneer of Seattle, informs us that a 

 Wood Duck nested X'carly, until recently, in an old maple stub on the Ijaiiks of 

 Squawk Slough near Redmond. The nesting cavity was about eighteen feet 

 up. and so well accustonied did the nioilier duck Ijecome to the attentions of 

 her human neiglibors that the school-bo_\s built a cleat ladder up the side of 

 the stub and took turns watching the broodhig bird without causing her 

 desertion. 



Wood Ducks used to be \-ery abumlant in the Central and Southern 

 States, l)ut so fierce has been the gun-fire directtd against them that they have 

 been actuallv exterminated in main- of their former haunts; and the alarm has 

 been \'igorousI\' sounded of late In- both the National Association of Audubon 

 Societies and the JUireau of the Biological Survey at W'ashington. in \iew of 

 the threatened c.vlinct'uni of the species. The bird is ikiw little known in 

 Washington, save along the southern Ijorder. Here, and esi^eciall}' upon tiie 

 islands of the lower Columbia Ri\er, Deer Island, Sanxie's, and the rest. 

 Wood Ducks are not onl\' common Init abuiKhmt. It is reported t<i us on the 

 highest authoritv that members of certain shooting clubs in Portland ol)tain 

 the bag-limit ( nriw twenty-five, but until very recently I'ifty ducks per da\ in 

 Oregon) of this s])ecies alone during the Septemlier shooting. In \iew (if the 

 bird's scarcil\' elsewhere, such a thoughtless course is \'er\- much to be 

 deprecated. 



The situation upon the banks of the (,'olumbia serxes ;igain to emphasize 

 the necessity of some national sx'Stem of control. Here is a sjiecies known to 

 be in danger of extermination, yet locally abundant in one circumscribed sec- 

 tion. The entire nation is interested in the preser\'ation of this bird, btit the 

 government is ])0werless to interfere where the local conscience is apathetic or 



