188 THE COMMON DUCK. 



the down from her breast to line the nest, and frequently 

 eovers the eggs when she leaves them. 



ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. 



The Duck, like other birds whose young ones run as soon 

 &s they are hatched, generally deposits her eggs on the 

 ground ; but there are some exceptions to this rule. Mr. 

 Selby says : " Such an instance once occurred within my 

 knowledge, and near my own residence, where a Wild Duck 

 laid her eggs in the old nest of a crow, at least thirty feet 

 from the ground. At this elevation she hatched her young ; 

 and as none of them were found dead beneath the tree, it 

 is presumed she carried them safely to the ground in her 

 bill, a mode of conveyance known to be frequently adopted 

 by the Eider Duck." Montagu says, " We have been assured 

 by a person of undoubted veracity that a half domesticated 

 Duck made a nest in Rumford Tower, hatched her young, 

 And brought them down in safety to a piece of water at a 

 considerable distance. Others have been known to breed 

 in trees ; and we recollect the nest of this bird being found 

 m the head of an old pollard willow, impending the water, 

 from whence the young might readily drop unhurt into their 

 natural element. Mr. Tunstall mentions one, at Etching- 

 ham, in Sussex, which was found sitting upon nine eggs, 

 on an oak-tree, twenty-five feet from the ground : and the 

 author of the * Rural Sports' records an instance of one 

 viking poBAossion of the nest of a hawk io a large oak. Tc 



