^4 Allen on the Nesting of the Black Duck. [^ a u n k 



Black Ducks {Anas obscura) breeding among the numerous 

 small islands and open places of clear water. 



During my first visits to Plum Island in 1S79 and 18S1 Mr. 

 Jerome and the lighthouse keeper made frequent mention of the 

 fact that a pair of Wood Ducks and several pairs of Black Ducks 

 had been frequently seen, both in this swamp and in a salt water 

 marsh nearer the beach during the spring and summer for sev- 

 eral years. In spite of diligent search I merely caught a hurried 

 glimpse of them once or twice and utterly failed to locate their 

 proper address. May 25, 18S5, while wading through this swamp 

 in search of Rails, I crossed a narrow bushy little island. I was 

 startled by a peeping sound and a scramble under my feet and 

 a glimpse of a moving line of brown and yellow balls, a dozen or 

 more in number, that instantly vanished. I spotted the hiding 

 place of the last unfortunate duckling and finally captured it after 

 an exciting chase. I caught a glimpse of the parent bird just 

 vanishing behind an island of grass near by, but in spite of over 

 an hour's dilligent and minute search where every leaf was turned, 

 I utterly failed in seeing another of the young and in flushing the 

 old bird, though the young ones were calling all around me. Nor 

 could I find that particular nest during my stay, although I found 

 two others, with eggs just hatching, on the 27th. The first 

 I discovered by fairly stepping upon the old bird while on the 

 nest, which was so boldly located that I never thought of search- 

 ing anywhere near it. The marsh lay directly in line and mid- 

 way between Jerome's house and the tilled land, orchards, 

 and sheep barn a mile away, on which a Fish Hawk had its nest. 

 As it was a long way around, a causeway had been built through 

 the centre of this swamp, as a short cut, some thirty years before. 

 From some historic event it was called Love Lane. After the 

 trees had grown up along its sides, each had its bulky Fish 

 Hawk's nest, with numerous families of Grackles as subtenants 

 and boarders. At the further end of this causeway, where all was 

 open and the pasture began, there was a small isolated clump of 

 myrtle five feet in diameter, extending from the wheel track to 

 the water's edge. Twice a day the farm hands, with oxen and 

 wagons, stumbled through one edge of this patch and the wheels 

 broke down the twigs, while the Black Duck was on the nest but 

 three or four feet away. I had brushed through it many times 

 when on my way to search the hidden recesses of the swamp. 



