The True Ducks, 229 



but when it came to getting within shot, 

 we found the only way was to conceal 

 ourselves behind a willow-stump and 

 take them as they flew over. After 

 the weary waiting for summer to come, 

 with comparatively few birds to watch 

 except the flocks of Snow-Buntings, 

 Shore-Larks, and Lapland Buntings, it 

 was most exciting to find ourselves in the 

 midst of such abundance of bird-life. . . . 

 As soon as the snow had melted, the 

 Ducks, or those of them which remained, 

 began to breed. The nests of the Pin-tail 

 were placed in the grass among the shrubs 

 in dry places, generally at some distance 

 from the water; they were deep, and 

 well lined with dead grass and sedge, and, 

 when the full clutch was laid, contained 

 plenty of down. We took the first eggs 

 on the 5th June." 



The eggs of the Pin-tail are seven to 

 ten in number, and they are of a dull 

 green or greenish buff colour. Some eggs 

 are perfectly elliptical, others slightly 

 pointed at one end. They vary from 

 2 to 2*25 in length, and from i'5 to i*6 

 in breadth. The down is dark brown with 

 a white centre. 



The adult male has the whole head 

 and the foreneck rich brown, the feathers 



