Witp-Fowr or -WiLp-FowL 
had a nest with seven eggs of her own and. one of 
a Ruddy Duck. No further away was another Can- 
vasback with eleven eggs that were about to hatch. 
Fora wonder, 
these eggs were 
all hers. Though 
isimapine: that 
this tribe are all 
busybodies, I 
consider the odd 
little Ruddy: as 
tie ;vemeatest 
adept at poking 
her blue nose in- 
to other duck- 
‘*ANOTHER CANVASBACK HAD A NEST WITH SEVEN 
people s busi- EGGS OF HER OWN AND ONE OF A RUDDY DUCK 
ness. I saw a Canvasback on June 10 swimming 
in this slough with five young. Whether the blood 
of any of these: was:‘«Ruddy’’ I could not: tell, 
though probably the eggs were laid early enough 
to outwit that semi-parasite. 
The breeding dates of these various Ducks 
varies considerably with the earliness or tardiness 
of the particular season. On my first trip I found 
the season very backward. Many of the Ducks had 
not finished laying by the first of June—the majority 
not even then. But last spring they were very much 
earlier, as the season opened warm and pleasant, and 
the various species arrived:at an early date. While 
there is no exact time at which each species. lays-— 
for individuals are very erratic—there is an average 
‘date at which one can expect to find the bulk of a 
species thus employed. The little calendar that I 
205 
