Vol. XVII 
1900 
] BREWSTER, Breeding Habits of Golden-eye Duck. 2TT 
evening, just before sunset, he found all but two hatched and the 
nest filled with the pretty ducklings. The old bird was sitting on 
both occasions. To-night she returned and reéntered the hole 
before Watrous had paddled one hundred yards from the tree. 
June 8. I visited the Whistler’s nest shortly before daybreak 
this morning, approaching it with great caution. The old bird 
was absent and at first I feared that she had removed her young 
during the night, but on looking into the hole I was delighted to 
find them still there, huddled closely together in a circle, and 
shivering a little, for the air was keen. There were, however, 
only szx of them with the two eggs still unhatched. What can 
have become of the remaining three eggs or young? Watrous 
tells me that he did not count the eggs on the 6th, nor the young 
last evening, but he is very certain that none of the eggs were 
missing on the former occasion, for the nest seemed to be full of 
them, and the absence of as many as three would have left a gap 
that he could scarcely have failed to notice. He is less sure that 
there were more than six young and two eggs last night. 
Feeling confident that the young would leave the nest some- 
time during the day, I determined to see, if possible, how they 
would accomplish it. Accordingly after examining the nest, I 
concealed my boat about thirty yards from the tree and stretching 
myself at full length on the bottom, with my head raised just 
enough to enable me to look over the gunwale, remained there 
for nearly two hours. Nothing of interest happened until 5.10, 
when a female Whistler came from the direction of the Megallo- 
way and without any preliminary circling dropped into the water 
within a few yards of the nest tree. After floating motionless for 
about two minutes with head and neck erect, evidently watching 
and listening intently, she flew directly to the hole and alighting 
on its edge, perched there for an instant, flapping her wings a 
little to maintain her balance. She then popped in, throwing up 
her spread tail just as her body disappeared, much as a Duck 
does when diving. I saw nothing more of her during the next 
hour, but soon after she entered the nest two other female Whist- 
lers flew over and around me several times and one of them finally 
alighted on the water and swam to the base of the stub, looking 
up at the hole intently as if she, too, had some interest in it. On 
