68 



THE OOLOGIST. 



spot she proceeds to dig a hollow with 

 her flippers and beak, aud to smooth it 

 out by turning around in it. Then she 

 partly fills the hollow with twigs and 

 moss, anything she can find, and at last 

 it is ready for the lining. Recklessly 

 plucking off her own feathers, which 

 are lighter and softer than those of any 

 other bird, she makes them iuto a 

 downy pad which completely lines the 

 nest and has a border wide enough to 

 cover the eggs when she is away. 



All this time the Norseman has been 

 kind and considerate towards his aquat- 

 ic visitors, digging hollows suitable for 

 their nests and supplying them with 

 turf and other building material, but as 

 soon as the nest is completed, and has 

 the usual six or eight dirty gray or pale 

 green eggs laid in it, the courteous host 

 becomes a robber. 



Ruthlessly taking away both the eggs 

 and the precious lining of the nest he 

 leaves the poor bird to recover from 

 iher disappointment the best she can. 



After this robbery the Duck returns 

 to her mate upon the sea, to come back 

 again in five or six days, to waddle 

 about the island seeking another nest 

 as if nothing had happened. Carefully 

 avoiding the location of her former 

 nest she selects a new spot, hollows it 

 out, inlays it with twigs, and it is ready 

 for the lining. Anxiously she searches 

 her body over for more feathers, but in 

 vain, she has used them all in making 

 her first nest. In this extremity she 

 goes back to the water, and finding her 

 mate takes him to the nest and strips 

 him of his down to complete the struc- 

 ture. When that is done the drake 

 leaves her and goes out upon the sea to 

 be absent for several months, a deser- 

 tion that is excusable after the treat- 

 ment he has received. 



Almost hidden by the twigs, moss and^ 

 down the mother bird sets upon her 

 nest with admirable patience, scarcely 

 taking time to search for food. 

 When she does leave her nest for a 



brief swim aud hunt in the waters near 

 by she carefully covers up her eggs, 

 knowing well that her neighbors in the 

 nests near by are watching for a chance 

 to rob her. If on her return after a 

 hasty meal of mussels she finds that 

 some of her eggs are gone she pretends 

 not to notice it, but watches her chance 

 and steals them back again from the 

 Duck near by. 



During the period of incubation the 

 Norseman does what he can to protect 

 the birds and guards them from the at- 

 tacks of predatory Falcons, Hawks and 

 Sea Eagles, for their prosperity is his. 

 After the young birds are hatched 

 many of them would perish on their 

 way to the water were it not for his as- 

 sistance, for he then goes about over the 

 densely crowded bird city, carefully 

 gathering all the down from the nests 

 in one basket and placing the ducklings 

 in another. When his baskets are filled 

 he goes down to the beach, closely fol- 

 lowed by the waddling, anxious moth- 

 ers, and empties the little ones out into 

 the water. Then there is a great' 

 scramble among both young and old 

 birds, for the mothers cannot tell their 

 own ducklings from those of their 

 neighbors and each tries to gather as 

 large a following as possible. 



When at length the families are di- 

 vided up and all are satisfied they seek 

 the quiet waters of some shallow bay, 

 where the mothers are soon busy div- 

 ing and bringing up food for their hun- 

 gry broods. 



The young birds are far better adapt- 

 ed to life on the shore than the old ones 

 are and they often wander out on the 

 beach and run about like young par- 

 tridges. They can swim as soon as they 

 are hatched, but still need the watchful 

 care of their mother, who allows them 

 to climb upon her back and outstretch- 

 ed wings to rest when they are tired. 

 As there is food in abundance for all of 

 them the ducklings grow rapidly and 

 soon get to be as large as the old ones. 



