356 Wright, Black Duck Nesting at Boston. [ Ju u i y 



and presently took wing westward over the housetops in the direc- 

 tion of the Fens. The following morning they were again present, 

 but did not stay, departing in flight toward the Common. The 

 third morning during an easterly rain they remained and were 

 observed for forty minutes, a typical pair of Anas nibripcs tristis 

 (Brewster,) the drake with rather red legs and greenish bill, and 

 the duck smaller with brownish legs and dusky bill. They occu- 

 pied the northern half of the pond where the island is located. 

 The duck invariably swam in advance of the drake, who gal- 

 lantly accepted her motives and desires as his guide. Once she 

 flew up onto the side of the foot bridge outside the railing in her 

 procedure of investigation. Then both swam toward the island, 

 and she traversed much of its surface, testing the various recesses 

 among the rocks, evidently in search of a nesting site, and several 

 times settled herself an instant to try the several locations. Again 

 she dropped into the water, joining her mate who had remained 

 close by, but had not gone on the island with her. The resumption 

 of close companionship was then followed by much bobbing of 

 heads and a full expression of mutual love. Swimming was 

 resumed, and later they climbed out onto the curbing, giving 

 scarcely more heed to passersby than did the domesticated Mallard 

 pair of the previous year. Perhaps, the heavily clouded and rainy 

 character of the morning was a favoring circumstance. Clearly 

 they had gained a great degree of confidence in two days and the 

 preliminaries for nesting seemed now to have been inaugurated. 

 Would the boating presently disturb them? It was a question of 

 much interest. The island, however, will be as secure a nesting 

 place as it was for the Mallards the previous year when the nine 

 ducklings were hatched, and later in the summer a second brood 

 of eight was hatched and all were raised. 



That pair of Mallards was the first which had been seen in the 

 Garden. Probably it belonged to the park flock living in the 

 Fens and in 1910 first made choice of the Garden pond for breeding. 

 These Mallards, presumably the same pair, had returned on 

 March 21 in the following spring and begun preparations for nest- 

 ing on the island, when a week later the water was drawn from the 

 pond and remained off for eighteen days, leaving only a dry bottom, 

 and the discouraged ducks left. The water was restored on April 



