Vol. XVIII 



IQOI 



Bext, Nesting Habits of Anotidce iti N. Dakota. '\'\^ 



The nest is well hidden and consists of a hollow in the ground 

 well lined with broken dry reeds or flags, apparently picked up 

 in the immediate vicinity, well mixed with dark gray down and a 

 few feathers from the bird's breast ; the down is thickest around 

 the edges of the nest and increases in quantity as incubation ad- 

 vances. The nests we found contained from lo to 13 eggs. The 

 eggs are elliptical ovate in shape and vary in color from a light 

 greenish buff to a light grayish buff, with very little lustre. 



The measurements of 22 eggs in my collection exhibit the fol- 

 lowing figures: Length, 2.36 to 2.07 ; breadth, 1.66 to 1.52 ; aver- 

 age, 2.27 by 1. 61 inches. 



The-eggs of the Mallard can be easily mistaken for those of the 

 Pintail, but they will average slightly larger, a little lighter in 

 color and are not quite so much elongated. The female Mallard 

 when flushed can be readily distinguished from the Pintail by its 

 larger size, shorter neck and by its blue speculum with conspicu- 

 ous white borders. 



Chaulelasmus streperus Liiiii. Gadwall. 



The Gadwall is not one of the commonest ducks though we 

 found it fairly abundant in the vicinity of the larger lakes, where 

 it breeds on the islands together with the Baldpates and Lesser 

 Scaup Ducks, the latter two species, however, far outnumbering 

 it even here. The nest is always placed on dry ground but not 

 very far from the water. A hollow is scooped in the ground and 

 well lined with strips or pieces of reeds, bits of dry grass and 

 weed stems, or whatever material can be most easily gathered in 

 the vicinity, mixed with down from the birds' breast and profusely 

 lined with dark gray down, around the eggs. Seven nests of this 

 species, found on two small islands on June 15, 1901, were lo- 

 cated as follows : Nest No. i was in the prairie grass on the higher 

 part of the island, which was at that time about one foot high and 

 growing thickly all over the island except for a few small clumps 

 of wild rose bushes in full bloom and two patches of the tall 

 'queen of the prairie' reeds referred to under the preceeding 

 species. This nest contained seven eggs, apparently fresh. Nest 

 No. 2 was well concealed in a narrow strip of ' queen of the 



