No. 123.] DIVISION OF ORNITHOLOGY. 77 



Dr. George H. Jennings of Jewett City, Connecticut, says, 

 regarding the Wood Duck: — 



One day, more than twenty years ago, while standing close by a small 

 pond, there was a splash of water about 15 feet from the shore, and I saw 

 a young duck on the pond. I guessed what had happened and looked in 

 time to see the mother bring another young duck. She held it in her bill 

 and dropped it when about 5 feet above the surface of the pond. One 

 more was added to the number. I think she saw me, and no more were 

 brought. After waiting a short time I drove on. 



Mr. Edward J. Court, Washington, District of Columbia, 

 says: — 



Twnce I have seen young carried out of the nest by the female, in both 

 cases in the bill. The male Wood Duck was in the water and stood guard 

 over the young ducks as they were carried down. Fishermen in this section 

 have told me that they sometimes carry the young down on the back. 



Dr. Robert W. Shufeldt of Washington, District of Columbia, 

 writes that at Ithaca, New York, a pair of W^ood Ducks nested 

 in 1872 in a tall sycamore tree, and that the female carried the 

 young down to the water in her bill. In reply to my questions 

 Dr. Shufeldt writes that the nest was some 40 feet from the 

 ground in a hollow limb about 18 inches in diameter, 8 feet 

 long and nearly horizontal, but slanting slightly downward. 

 The tree stood approximately 100 feet from the margin of the 

 lake, in a wood of fullgrown trees several acres in extent. Be- 

 tween the tree and the lake the ground was level, and only a 

 little grass grew there. He could not see just how the bird 

 seized the young, or whether they were all taken or carried in 

 the same way. He believes that both the parents took part, 

 and that each young was held in the bill of the parent and 

 carried by a wing. He has a recollection that the little ones 

 while being carried craned their necks and kicked with their 

 little legs. 



Dr. Walton I. Mitchell of Paonia, Colorado, says that he has 

 seen this twice in Minnesota. The young birds were carried 

 by the wing in the mother's bill. The nest was about 15 feet 

 from the ground, and directly overhanging the water. Dr. A. 

 A. Allen says that Mr. Foster Parker of Cayuga, New York, in 



