Wild Ducks and Duck Decoying. 2 1 1 



head is of a rich velvety black, while the sharply- 

 contrasting neck and back are of the purest 

 white ; beneath, the plumage is black. At the 

 same period the female is of a subdued rufous 

 brown, with more or less dark markings ; the tail 

 feathers are now nearly black. 



The colonies of breeding eiders often consist 

 of an immense number of birds, and the nests 

 lie so thickly together that it is difficult to avoid 

 stepping into them. They are usually placed 

 upon some slight elevation ; and here in any 

 faint depression the duck collects a small 

 quantity of sea-weed and drift stuff, which she 

 forms into a felty mass by kneading it with 

 her breast. Upon this four or five eggs are 

 laid in the course of a week ; the eggs are pale 

 green, rather like those of the heron. Even 

 before the last egg is laid it is seen that 

 a few feathers are scattered about the nest, 

 and as incubation proceeds these increase 

 in quantity. For the sitting bird covers her 

 treasures over with down plucked from her 

 breast ; this she does day by day until a very 

 considerable quantity buries the eggs. It is 

 this down which has become such an important 

 article of commerce. If the eiders are sitting 

 under natural conditions the eggs are hatched 

 in about twenty-six days, and the young birds 

 are almost immediately taken down to the water. 

 They show no hesitation in entering the sea, 



p 2 



