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BRITISH BIRDS. 



On June 29th all the eggs were as usual in the nest and 

 warm, and the duck close at hand, but though I waited 

 four hours on that and two successive days, she did not 

 once venture near, though eventually returning to the nest 

 after I left. She was sitting closely till to-day, July 8th, 

 when either her patience is exhausted or the almost un- 

 paralleled rise of water for the time of year has flooded her out. 



FIG. 1. MALLARD DUCK BROODING BEHIND ITS NEST. 

 (Photographed by Miss E. L. Turner.) 



These instances, frequently recorded, of birds 

 removing eggs or young, while simply pointing to the 

 fact that, like human beings, they are subject to attacks 

 of " nerves," nevertheless have an added interest, 

 because they prove that there is almost as great an 

 individuality amongst birds, even of the same species, 

 as amongst men. Snipe, for instance, will usually fly 



