Merganser immediately flew out and having circled 

 about over the river, alighted on the water. After 

 assuring myself of the identification, which caused me 

 some astonishment on account of the size of the bird in 

 proportion to the entrance of the hole, I returned to 

 my fishing. 



In a few moments I noticed a small bird drop down 

 apparently from the hole, and in a few more seconds, 

 another and then a third. My first thought was that 

 a Bank Swallow, of which there are many on the 

 river, had flown up near to the hole and down again 

 three times in succession. This caused me to stop 

 fishing and to watch, when to my astonishment, a small 

 bird with white breast appeared in the hole, jumped 

 out, and was followed b}^ another, and again another. 

 I then lost no time in reaching a point in the river 

 opposite the tree, where I saw in the water against 

 the bank, swimming around, a brood of eleven young 

 ducks. I was much surprised, as I had been under 

 the impression from what I had read, that the old 

 duck would certainly carry down the young from such 

 an inaccessible position, and though I believe the 

 young birds must have landed in the water, I was yet 

 astonished that they could withstand the shock of such 

 a drop, and I presumed that by rapping on the tree 

 I had caused the old bird to leave in such fright that 

 her fear had been communicated to the young and 

 they had followed her example, and that the whole 

 procedure was therefore an unnatural one. 



The Club House is situated directly across the river, 

 and on June 12th, 1913, two years later, I was sitting 

 on the piazza when my attention was attracted by see- 



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