DASTCOWEER IN JUNE 137 
light putty shade (see Part II, p. 189). As 
the hen bird was evidently wishing much to 
return to her nest and kept swimming to- 
wards it every now and then with the male 
in faithful attendance (though like other 
ducks he does not, I believe, help in making the 
nest, and the down on the eggs comes from 
the breast of the female). I endeavoured to 
snap-shot them as they came toit. Focussing 
the camera and setting the shutter, I con- 
cealed myself behind a high heap of cut grass 
that I made, having the releasing tube ready 
to blow into as I did with the sparrow 
(see Part II, p. 15). I waited a full hour, 
but the hen though evidently distressed and 
keeping up a pleading ‘twee twee,’ all the 
time, did not lke the look of things, and I 
had to content myself with an exposure of 
the pair some thirty yards away, getting only 
very small images with my half-plate lens. 
I unfortunately had no time to rig up a 
better concealment for the camera and myself, 
losing a good opportunity of getting a pretty 
photograph. As I lay awaiting the duck’s 
