132 



THE OSPREY. 



though I always feel squeamish about shooting for 

 simple identification yet this might be the Greater or 

 Lesser Scaup or even a Ring-neck, so before she had 

 quite passed out of range I tumbled her into the 

 rushes. 



As I turned the short, flat body over in my hand 

 it was clear that it belonged to the Scaup family, but 

 whether marilci or affinis was not so clear at the time, 

 though later measurements and investigation proved 

 it the latter. The nest, slightly sunk in the ground, 

 and lined rather sparingly with dried grasses and a 

 modest amount of down from the breast (the eggs 

 being still fresh,) was well concealed by the luxuriant 

 grasses surrounding and was in nowise distinctive in 

 either structure or location ; but four feet away from 

 it was the nest of a Blue-winged Teal, also containing 

 eight eggs, and just on the point of hatching. Twice 

 I had stood at the Scaup's nest and had neither dis- 

 covered nor flushed the Teal. It remained for the 

 colt which followed my mare to accomplish this effec- 

 tually by planting a foot in the edge of the nest. 



Although the selection of a nesting spot in such 

 neighborly fashion must have been deliberate on the 

 part of the Scaup, yet such evident inclination to 

 social intercourse by nesting Ducks, either among 

 those of the same or differing species, must be re- 

 garded as unnatural and most rare. Ordinarily the 

 strictest seclusion is sought, and too close an intrusion 

 is vigorously resented by the Duck already located. 



The same coulee has this year furnished me two 

 sets of eight and one of eleven of the Lesser Scaup 

 and in each case the nest was within a hand's breadth 

 of the flowing water. It is a peculiar fact that in all 

 my wanderings over this broad region hereabouts I 

 have never discovered the nest of this species outside 

 this little coulee. 



Some 80 rods further down, the coulee runs full 

 into a stiff hill and turning abruptly to the left a well 

 watered angle is formed, nicely protected by the 

 high, sloping bank behind, and here in a space of 

 twenty yards grows a wealth of thicket composed of 

 choke cherry, thorn apple, wild raspberry, and rose 

 bush ; and any day in June one may lie concealed in 

 the heavy vegetation near by and study bird life from 

 the Maryland Yellow- throat up to the Turkey Vulture. 



June 2, this year, at the foot of this tangle and from 

 the verge of the deep pool formed there I unexpect- 

 edly flushed what seemed to be a female Baldpate, 

 but getting the sun directly in my eyes I did not have 

 that fair and sustained view of plumage, bill, head, 

 feet and "gait" which tell their story so faithfully 

 when the species is familiar. Springing across the 

 little pool I discovered the nest at the foot of a wild 

 rose bush growing within three feet of the pool, and 

 amidst a dense growth of last year's dried grasses 

 fully a foot or more in height. Eleven eggs were 

 disclosed, but of a tint rather too buffy and too little 

 the appearance of porcelain to suit my notions of a 

 set of Baldpate. Furthermore, the nest, though 



lined in the usual manner with dried grasses, dead- 

 leaves and down, still showed less careful rimming 

 up than I had noted in other cases ; and, altogether, 

 I felt unprepared to write "identification sure," and 

 so came away, leaving nest untouched, though with- 

 out the slightest intention of abandoning permanent- 

 ly, for one thing was certain : the nest belonged either 

 to the Baldpate or Gadwall and a perfect set of 

 eleven of either, satisfactorily identified, would be a 

 valuable find. 



A couple of days later, together with my wife, who 

 was readily induced to accompany me upon assur- 

 ances of a find of Yellow Lady Slippers, I approached 

 the angle, with the sun at my back and with gun 

 at "ready," once more surprised my Duck at home. 

 But who can properly discount the bewildering effect 

 of a gray hillside, with its alternating stretches of 

 bright sunlight and gully's like deep gashes all in 

 gloomy shade, as a back ground for three seconds to 

 a swiftly flying Duck no less gray in color? Not the 

 slightest fraction of an instant did my gaze wander 

 from the fast fleeting vision but, alas, uncertainty re- 

 mained with me to the last, and just before the next 

 bend should carry her away out of range, a charge of 

 No. 6 shot secured for me the specimen. 



First impressions toward identification are more 

 often the best — at least with me — and, of course, it 

 was an exceptionally fine specimen of Baldpate ; and 

 I now felt ready to accord a reluctant assent to Dr. 

 Coues' description of the eggs of the Baldpate as 

 "dull, pale buff," at least as applied to specific sets. 



On the same day I took a set of ten Mallard — some- 

 what incubated — from a nest situation almost an exact 

 duplicate of that just described and with surround- 

 ings almost identical, though some fifteen rods further 

 up the coulee. In this case, however, identification 

 was simple and satisfactory before the big Duck had 

 fairly gained wing after flushing almost from under 

 foot. 



Another locality some nine miles away borders a 

 more pretentious coulee draining a big territory and 

 opening out at one point into a considerable lake, 

 covering perhaps 100 acres, and enclosing, during 

 high water in the spring, a little half-acre island with 

 plenty of boulders underfoot and covered with the 

 most surprising growth of flags and nettles growing 

 six feet high. Where this coulee run.s along with 

 sluggish current through a long alkali flat the shores 

 are lined with dense rushes and flags and in some 

 places the waters spread out over the adjoining lands 

 submerging the coarse vegetation and fostering thick 

 growths of bullrushes and flags such as furnish the 

 most likely retreats for the Red-head Canvas-back, 

 and Ruddy. 



On my way to this vicinity on June g last, and 

 while passing a field in which a lad was plowing, I 

 observed him suddenly spring out of the furrow and 

 with the handle of his whip strike down a bird that 

 had flushed from under the feet of his team. On 



