THE HARLEQUIN DUCK 367 



— no duck! and what may liave been tlieir 

 ghosts rising from their watery graves sixty 

 yards away. 



They make their nests on the ground or in 

 the hollow of a tree, lining the cavity with 

 grass, leaves, moss or down. The number of 

 eggs is from six to ten — usually eight — of a 

 grayish green color. 



This is a very curiously marked duck, beau- 

 tifully plumaged in its full dress, which, it is 

 probable, is not put on before the third spring. 

 The general color of the species is a dull bluish, 

 almost purplish, darker and nearly black on the 

 top of the head, lower back, rump and tail. 

 The body color is darker on the head and neck 

 than on the breast and back, here growing more 

 brownish in tone. The flanks bright chestnut. 

 A white patch on each side at the root of the 

 tail. Speculum purplish with a metallic lus- 

 tre. A patch of white at the base of the bill; 

 stripe of chestnut above each eye, and a small 

 circular patch of white behind the eye, with a 

 long, narrow stripe of the same color running 

 down each side of the hind neck. A collar of 

 white running around the lower neck, this 

 black-edged, and another lower down on the 



