ANATID.E. 487 



about as they please, make their own nests and 

 bring up their own young, the only thing done for 

 them being an occasional feed of barley, especially 

 in hard frosts or very dry weather in summer, and a 

 little barley-meal for the young. Probably if they 

 were kept in a closer state of confinement the varia- 

 tion above mentioned would take place. 



The Wild Duck seems to be rather an early 

 breeder, the young broods generally making their 

 appearance about the 12th or 13th of April. A 

 variety of places are chosen for the nest sometimes 

 reeds, rushes or long grass near the pond; some- 

 times the cover of some bush, either near or far 

 from the water; sometimes a hedge-row at a con- 

 siderable distance from the water ; sometimes thick 

 ivy on the top of a wall, at a height of even eight or 

 ten feet. Yarrell mentions an instance of a nest 

 having been found in an oak tree, twenty-five feet 

 from the ground, and another in a deserted nest of a 

 Hawk ; and, quoting Selby, he says, " A Wild Duck 

 laid her eggs in the old nest of a Crow, at least 

 thirty feet from the ground. At this elevation she 

 hatched her young, and as none of them were found 

 dead beneath the tree, it was presumed she carried 

 them down in her bill a mode of conveyance known 

 to be frequently adopted by the Eider Duck." The 

 nest itself is not a very elaborate structure only a 

 few rushes, leaves and dead grass twisted together. 

 When the nest is on the ground the parent bird is 



