BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



There are many incidents to prove that 

 Woodducks, Mallards and Golden Eyes can 

 be attracted by safety and food to suitable 

 nesting sites. The Mallards, as they make 

 their nests of sticks, grasses and feathers on 

 the ground, require only the necessary environ- 

 ment, but the Golden Eyes and Woodducks, 

 nesting in hollow trees, can be supplied with 

 nest boxes. There are incidents when Golden 

 Eyes have nested in chimneys. It is said that 

 when young Ducks, hatched therein, are ready 

 to leave the nest, the old Duck sits on the top 

 of the chimney and waits for them to climb up, 

 fall over the edge of the roof and from there 

 fall to the ground. Strange to say this adven- 

 turous entering of the outside world has no ill 

 effect upon them. 



In the swamp here we hope to re-instate the 

 Woodduck, the most beautiful of all its 

 family, and believed by some to be the bird 

 nearest extinction. Years ago it was dis- 

 tributed all over the \vooded portions of 

 Ontario, arriving in the province about the 

 time the ice disappeared from the lakes and 

 rivers. Hollow trees near water were always 

 likely to contain a Woodduck nest. \Vhen 

 [143] 



