Feb., 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



15 



mixed with the dried grass. This no 

 doubt was a local characteristic, as the 

 pasture was plentifully supplied with briers 

 to which particles of wool adhered. The 

 birds are very shy and uneasy. Leaving 

 the nest at the first approach of an intru- 

 der, they will secrete themselves in the 

 nearest covert, where, uttering their un- 

 musical notes, they give vent to their dis- 

 pleasure. They spend most of their time 

 in the coverts of bushes, showing their 

 presence by frequently uttered notes, or by 

 being seen darting after some passing in- 

 sect. After the season of incubation is 

 over, they become rapidly silent, and, dur- 

 ing the remainder of their stay, their notes 

 are heard only at rare intervals. B3- the 

 middle of Sej>tember none of them are to 

 be seen, as they have left for the South. 

 Their return in the Spring varies with the 

 season, but is usually the last of May. — 

 C. 0. Tracy, Taftsville, Vt. 



The Ruddy Duck and Its Nests. 



While collecting at Santa Cruz, Cal., the 

 past season, I found several nests of the 

 Ruddy Duck, (Erismatura rubida.) The 

 location was a salt lagoon of about forty 

 acres in extent, encircled with a belt of 

 tules* from ten to fifty feet in width. The 

 nests were usually built near the centre of 

 the tules, and just above the water, which 

 was two or three feet deep, and were inac- 

 cessible except by wading, as the tules 

 were too thick to allow a boat to pass 

 through them. The nests were all con- 

 structed of diy tules ; those forming the 

 lining were picked into fine shreds and 

 slightly mixed with down of the parents. 

 Nests were from eight to fifteen inches 

 high, and ten to twelve in diameter. The 

 cavity varied in size as much as the nests, 

 but not in proportion to them, as the high- 

 est and most firmly built of any I saw had 

 a cavity that was only large enough to 



•The word " Tules," pronounced tu-les, is in common use 

 in California for a kina of reed found plentifully in ponds 

 and streams. — Ed. 



hold two eggs in the first layer, and so 

 shallow that the three other eggs it con- 

 tained were above the level of the nest. 

 This nest also varied from the others in 

 having a slight covering of tules over the 

 eggs. I first visited the lagoon and saw 

 the Ducks on May 12th, believing they 

 had their nests there. Not then having 

 sufficient time to make a thorough search, 

 I waited until the 26th, and then took a 

 boat, and for several hours hunted unsuc- 

 cessfully along the edge and through the 

 tules where they were thin enough to admit 

 a boat. However, as the Ruddys were 

 still there, I made up my mind to wade and 

 make another search. On carrying out 

 my plans, a few days later, I was surprised 

 on arriving at the lagoon to find only five 

 or six Ruddys in sight. As they were 

 males, I surmised the females were attend 

 ing to household cares, so prepared to 

 make them a call, but only succeeded in 

 finding one nest. However, as this con- 

 tained five eggs, the first I had ever found, 

 I felt quite elated. I removed the eggs 

 and called again on the 26th of June. Ev- 

 idently I was expected, for I found the 

 nest deserted, but on looking around in 

 the vicinity I found two other nests, with 

 nineteen eggs in each. I took both sets 

 and one of the nests, the owner of which 

 was more generous than the others, as she 

 constructed another nest on the same site 

 and laid ten eggs for me. I removed them 

 on the 24th of July. Incubation was then 

 well advanced; the embryos were about 

 the same size in each egg, which showed 

 the bird had changed her mode of incuba- 

 tion, as the eggs in the first set varied from 

 a fresh one to five that were just on the 

 point of hatching. The eggs were ar- 

 ranged three layers thick in each of the 

 nests containing nineteen; which to me 

 was a strange arrangement. Considering 

 the number of eggs and their size, which 

 in proportion to the birds is quite large, 

 averaging 2.46x1-83, it seems to be the 



