274 BULLETIN 130, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Tlie nest was situated in the center of a little open spot in the grass ; the 

 open area had evidently been created by the bird in her quest for building ma- 

 terial, for she had proceeded to pull up or break off the grass immediately 

 adjacent as her nest grew higher and larger, until the nest finally occupied a 

 position in broad daylight as it were, although it is not improbable that when 

 the spot was selected it was well hidden by overhanging and surrounding 

 grass. I was not long in securing this nest and eggs, after which we began a 

 systematic search through the high grass and in a short time I had found my 

 second nrst, constructed similarly to the first but a little better hidden, being 

 under an overhanging bunch of grass which furnished a slight covering. This 

 nest contained 30 eggs, deposited in a double layer ; and if the first set of 19 

 was a surprise, what shall I say of this? 



Dr. Harold C. Bryant (1914) describes other nests, similarly lo- 

 cated, as follows : 



One of our most interesting finds was a nest of the fulvous tree duck, dis- 

 covered on May 12, 1914. The nest was situated on a hummock in the middle 

 of a marsh between two ponds. The nest was a well-woven one of dry sedges 

 placed about 6 inches above the ground in a tall clump of sedge and weeds. 

 The cavity was about 5 inches deep and in it lay 12 ashy white eggs. A few 

 days later the nest was raided by some predacious animal and all the eggs 

 destroyed. On May 18 we discovered a second nest in the same swamp. This 

 one was built about 6 inches above the water in a small clump of sedge and 

 contained but 4 eggs. The sedges were arched over the cavity in such a way 

 as to conceal it effectively. Two days later when we visited this nest we 

 found it also raided. The only other nest of this species noted was a new one 

 found on June 23. No attempt had been made at special construction of a 

 nest, the two eggs simply lying in a crushed-down place among tall sedges. 



The method of nesting described above seems to be the method 

 regularly followed in California. I have two sets of fulvous tree 

 duck's eggs in my collection from Merced County, California; one 

 nest is described as made of grass and small tules, lined with fine 

 grass and a little down, and placed on the ground among high grass 

 in a swamp ; the other nest was made of grass and tules and was 

 placed in a clump of grass and tules in a ditch with 2i/2 feet of water 

 under it; there were 29 eggs in the latter nest, 10 of which were in 

 the upper layer. 



That this duck probably does nest occasionally in trees in Cali- 

 fornia, as it certainly does elsewhere, is suggested by the following 

 observation by W. Otto Emerson, published by Mr. Shields (1899), 

 in his paper referred to above : 



On May 23, 1882, while collecting with William C. Flint at Lillie's ranch 

 near Tulare Lake I noticed a fulvous tree duck sitting in the entrance hole of 

 a large white oak near one of the ditches, but it was out of the question to 

 reach it. Again on May 26 another was located sitting on the edges of a hole 

 high up in a white oak. 



Mr. D. B. Burrows found this species nesting in hollow trees, at 

 heights varying from 4 to 30 feet, in the valley of the lower Rio 

 Grande, near Roma, Texas. He says in his notes : 



