Vol. XIX 

 1902 



I Bent, Nesting Habits of Anatidiv in N. Dakota. 173 



was admirably concealed in the middle of a large area of tall thick 

 reeds where the water was about a foot deep. It was beautifully 

 made of dead and green reeds, artistically interwoven and firmly 

 attached to the growing reeds about it. The dimensions were 

 practically the same as the foregoing nest. It contained 6 eggs, 

 which proved to be almost fresh. The photograph [not here re- 

 produced] gives but a faint idea of the beauty of this nest, and the 

 artistic manner in which the green reeds were arched over above it, 

 forming an effective and a picturesque screen for the pure white 

 eggs. 



All our records tend to prove that the Ruddy Duck is one of 

 the later breeders, as all the sets we found during the second 

 week in June were either incomplete or fresh. 



That the Ruddy Duck occasionally lays in other duck's nests 

 was proven by our finding one of their eggs in a nest of the Can- 

 vas-back. The eggs of the Ruddy Duck are always unmistakable ; 

 they are extremely large for the size of the bird, more rounded 

 than the other ducks' eggs, pure dull white in color, and have a 

 rough granular shell peculiar to this species. They vary some- 

 what in shape from short ovate to elongate ovate. 



The 15 eggs before me measure as follows: length, 2.67 to 

 2.38 ; breadth, 1.87 to 1-70; average, 2.49 by 1.80. 



Branta canadensis (^Linti.) . Canada Goose. 



There are still quite a number of Canada Geese breeding within 

 the limits of North Dakota, but they are apparently not as 

 abundant as formerly and will undoubtedly be driven further west 

 and north as the country becomes more thickly settled. We 

 found several of their nests, but for some unaccountable reason we 

 did not see a single Goose. It is not likely that we could have 

 overlooked such a conspicuous and well marked bird, but, as the 

 nests we found were all deserted, it is probable that the birds had 

 all moved off with their broods to other sections where we could 

 not find them. 



They nest on the islands in the larger lakes and in the sloughs, 

 building two entirely different types of nest in the two localities. 



