EGGS TO DUCKLINGS. 87 
and is so elastic that one ounce will fill a large hat; 
furthermore, the down from the nest has double the 
elasticity of that obtained from a dead bird. In Ice- 
land the down is a valuable article of commerce, being 
sold when cleaned for three rix dollars a pound. In 
1750, the Icelandic Company sold down amounting in 
value to $4,250, beside what was sent to Gluckstadt 
(Van Troil’s “Letters on Iceland’). 
The divers have more down than the non-divers, 
which is also plucked generously from their breasts. 
Woodducks, hooded mergansers and whistlers often 
fill the hollow of trees they have chosen with their 
own feathers, and feathers of other birds are fre- 
quently found mixed with them; but when they build 
on muskrat houses, in holes in banks, rocks, etc., they 
usually use dry grasses, weeds and flags for their 
outer covering, thus rendering the nest less conspicu- 
ous to the passer-by. 
After the usual period of incubation, which differs 
slightly in various species, the first peep of the newly- 
hatched ducklings finds the drake non est; for his 
Highness, after the duck has begun to set, neglects to 
pay his accustomed visits to her and goes off to have 
a good time in the company of other drakes, most of 
whom have a spouse like himself, while others are 
mateless, there being always a larger percentage of 
males among both divers and non-divers. The duck 
now leads the way toward the nearest piece of water, 
or, if on the bank or in the weeds, to some quiet place 
hidden from observant eyes; keeping strict guard over 
her brood, rarely seen, yet watching closely for the 
first sign of danger from the entangled overhanging 
grass. 
