AMONG THE WATER FOWL 



give I would not set up against the observation of 

 others; it is simply the average of two seasons' con- 

 tinuous observation. Mallards and Pintails are nota- 

 bly the early birds, laying any time after the first of 

 May occasionally before, I am told though I 

 think that about May 20 one will find the greater 

 number of nests. By about this time, in ordinary 

 seasons, the Canvasbacks have laid and the Hooded 

 Mergansers. May 25 is about the right date for 

 Golden-eyes ; June i for Teal, Shovelers, and Red- 

 heads ; June 10 or later for Gadwalls and Ruddies; 

 June 15 and on for the Scaups and Baldpates, and 

 the ist of July for White-winged Scoter. 



To make the acquaintance in the nesting season 

 of certain other Ducks which do not go to the re- 

 mote north, we shall have to explore the Atlantic 

 coast region. It is by no means as easy to find 

 them there as on the Great Plains, yet patient 

 searching will now and then be rewarded. Most 

 of the sea Ducks, such as the Scoters and Old- 

 squaws, migrate to Labrador or beyond. Some day 

 I hope to follow them, but as yet my wanderings 

 have not been extended north of the Magdalen 

 Islands. Yet there are some interesting Ducks even 

 there to be studied. 



Away out by East Point is what is called "the 

 Great Pond," a shallow body of water certainly a 

 couple of miles long, occasionally inundated by the 

 sea, that breaks across the beach in storms. At its 

 east end are what the fishermen have named the 

 "Egg Nubbles," a number of tiny islets, on which 



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