EARLY NESTING BIRDS 23 



packed away. At the same time many hundreds 

 of our more common birds had been under 

 observation. 



Having come rapidly forward, as I have said, 

 I will return now and note a few of the inci- 

 dents of the riverside. 



Crooked Lake, 

 May 13. 



Early Nesting Mallard 



To-day found a Mallard's nest containing three 

 freshly laid eggs ; the nest being in a cavity 

 almost on the water edge in a low willow-covered 

 bank. This pair had lost no time in mating and 

 nesting, for ice still covered the lake. I marvel 

 at their instinct : the wisdom that brought 

 them hundreds of miles north across a continent, 

 their time of opportune arrival set with the 

 accuracy of calendar date : the wisdom that 

 placed the nest so very close to the water's edge, 

 as if the duck had knowledge that the river 

 soon would fall. Some people might say it was 

 accident, but the more one sees of nature, the 

 more one ponders over that wisdom which is 

 so often designated cunning. 



An Osprey's Nest 



Back a little way in the forest at the top of 

 the " mast " of a dead spruce tree we came later 

 in view of an Osprey's nest ; a look-out over 

 land and water without attempt at hiding. We 

 ran the canoe quietly ashore, and went to investi- 

 gate, while overhead, slowly circling, swung 



