270 BrewstER, Breeding Habits of Golden-eye Duck. ie 
alight on the stub or to enter the hole, but as we could not distin- 
guish between them, and as no two made the attempt at the same 
time, this impression could not be verified. They were silent for 
the most part, but occasionally one of them would utter a sound 
not unlike the quack of a Black Duck but shorter and flatter and 
repeated very rapidly six or eight times. 
May 31. In a short, hollow maple trunk where a Whistler 
nested last year we found this morning a set of eleven eggs, none 
of which were covered with down although they were evidently 
near hatching. This nest is within thirty yards of the tall stub 
about which the four Whistlers were circling yesterday. The 
entrance is at the top about twelve feet above the water. 
June 2. We found a Whistler’s nest to-day by watching the 
female. She first alighted on the water near the tree and for fif- 
teen or twenty minutes swam or drifted idly about preening her 
feathers. Then she flew out over a space of open water and turned 
back toward the tree, describing a great loop and rising gradually 
until she had attained an elevation of about twenty feet when she 
made directly for the entrance to the nest, which was about thirty 
feet above the water. On nearing it she pitched up sharply for 
the remaining ten feet, keeping her wings in rapid motion up to 
the last moment, but checking her speed very considerably before 
she reached the hole. Some intervening branches prevented us 
from seeing just how she entered it. Approaching the tree quietly 
I took a position which commanded a good view of the hole when 
my companion struck the base of the trunk lightly with his paddle. 
The blow was immediately followed by a scratching sound, and 
the next instant the Whistler shot out over our heads. Although 
I was watching the hole intently I did not see her leave it. She 
seemed, indeed, to burst forth at nearly full speed and I was half 
inclined to believe that she began her flight within the trunk. It 
seemed incredible that so heavy and clumsy a bird could emerge 
from such a place so adroitly and get under headway so quickly. 
Not that this particular hole was exceptionally small. On the 
contrary it was of rather generous size. Its shape and position 
are illustrated by a photograph which I took of the tree. 
June 7. Yesterday at 3 p. mM. Watrous examined the Whistler’s 
nest found May 31. Several of the eggs were chipped. This 
