WOOD AND WASTE 27 



same nest in recurring years, for on the 

 river brim, and directly beneath the nesting 

 site, the tiny bits of broken eggshell that 

 iirst drew my notice were of last year's 



Immediately after leaving the nest, the 

 young are very carefully hidden by day, 

 and in our streams chance only discovers 

 them. 



In these boulder cumbered creaks there 

 are endless harbours and refuges, ceilings of 

 limestone, with only room for the birds to 

 crouch on the water floor, potholes scooped 

 by the action of sand and grit, hollows and 

 arches gouged by the current's force, and 

 everj'w^here along the banks thickets of water 

 growth and hanging fern. 



On October 15th a second Blue Duck's 

 nest was got, and this one also was placed 

 just about though not above high-level flood 

 mark. Certain types of this river silt are 

 apparently so great an attraction that the 

 Mountain Duck will risk abnormal floods 

 for its advantages. 



These birds had chosen for cover a bush 

 of mountain flax, and beneath old dead 



