38 PEOCEEDINGS OF THE 



its eggs been secured from New Jersey, and though reported as 

 breeding from one or two localities, no definite egg-record had 

 been made. It was therefore with eagerness yet care we began 

 a search. Two minutes' time sufficed to make the discovery. 

 There it nestled at the foot of a small maple so perfectly con- 

 cealed that one could stand directly above it and glancing down 

 could not detect one of the nine eggs. It was about sixty feet 

 from the Marsh Hawk's nest, and not five from the stand I had 

 taken when startled by the Hawk's first appearance. I remem- 

 bered the tree and its lichens distinctly, and seemed to recall 

 having leaned against it. I must on several occasions have 

 passed within a foot of it. Where the Duck had been on the 

 thirteenth when we had spent three hours in this locality was a 

 problem. We must surely have noticed the bird it would seem 

 flying about, at least at a distance. 



I have read descriptions of the eggs calling them ' ' dirty drab, ' ' 

 which led me to expect a nestful of unattractiveness. Not such 

 was the case with this particular clutch. Beauty they possessed 

 at least when observed in their natural surroundings. The body 

 of the nest filled the space between the roots of a large maple. 

 Dark green lichens spotted the tree forming a beautiful back- 

 ground, while light green was the color of the huckleberry 

 bushes branching above and grouping on the left. The front 

 and right were screened by a bunch of soft brown grasses, which 

 converged above with the huckleberry bushes and made it im- 

 possible to thrust in a hand without breaking the grasses. The 

 nest proper concaved about a depression eight inches in diam- 

 eter. It was filled with pine spills, bracken, and leaves of oak 

 and maple, no down having yet been inserted. The eggs were 

 packed closely, the leaves sticking up between them. In color 

 they were cream buff, some of them having a slight greenish 

 tinge. The whole interior of the nest was soft brown, leaves, 

 spills, and eggs lending various shades, but all moulding into 

 each other. These browns harmonized with the greens above, 

 and made a most attractive home. Four days later the nest 

 contained twelve eggs, so full as to have the appearance of con- 

 vexity. Three eggs had been laid in four days. Down was 

 now present, having been inserted in little bunches over the 

 inside of the nest, adding a touch of warmth. 



