c6 Allen on the Nesting of the Black Duck. [ Jan k 



I found the eggs pretty well covered when I went to the nest. 

 In order to let the bird come back I spent over an hour taking 

 notes in the woods the other side of the marsh and in searching 

 for the Wood Duck's nest. On returning I purposely came upon 

 the Black Duck suddenly, in order again to flush her as I had 

 done when finding the nest. The eggs were uncovered to a great 

 extent, one bird was entirely out of the shell and drying, so that 

 the fluffs of down were beginning to break their casings and 

 clothe the little one. Several others were nearly out of their 

 shells, and most of the eggs were already cracked in a circle near 

 one end. While I was photographing the nest and young, the 

 old bird returned, flying high, bnt after circling lower, alighted in 

 the water a hundred feet away with a sudden loud outcry. When 

 she failed to entice me away, she approached much nearer, and 

 finally crawled out upon the causeway within twenty-five feet, 

 and dragged herself back and forth through the rank grass and 

 down the narrow path as though both wings, and legs as well, 

 were broken. Her mate I never saw, but during the hour that I 

 sat watching the rapid hatching out of the eggs in the hot sun this 

 poor, distressed bird was untiring in her efforts to lure me away, 

 and often approached so near that I could have caught her by a 

 sudden rush before she could have cleared herself from the tall 

 grass. 



The plate (Plate I) is a poor one, but it shows the nest, with 

 eggs embedded in the down, and if one looks closely the partly 

 hatched young can be seen. 



The exact method adopted by the bird in freeing itself from the 

 shell proved interesting. I will describe the procedure as it 

 occurred in an egg that I took from the nest before the first crack 

 had appeared. While examining it there was evidence of a strong 

 muscular effort on the part of the bird inside, and a small disk of 

 shell was chipped out and raised above the surface at about one 

 third of the distance from the end ; then came a second or two of 

 rest, followed by what felt like a scramble inside ; then a second 

 of quiet and the horny little knob on the end of the bill was driven 

 through the shell one eighth of an inch to the right of the first 

 puncture. This routine was repeated over and over until some 

 twenty-five or thirty punctures had been made, completely en- 

 circling one end of the egg, each being about one eighth of an 

 inch to the right of the preceding one. The efforts seemed 



