duck. It is also said that they have been 

 known to nest in the hollows of trees, or 

 upon a stump projecting above the water 

 of a swamp. They have also been 

 known to nest upon the branches of 

 dwarfed spruces at a height of less than 

 six feet above the ground. The eggs 

 which are usually pale greenish or bluish 

 white, vary from eight to twelve in num- 

 ber and closely resemble those of the 

 Mallard. Though the Black Ducks mate 

 early in the season, the nesting period be- 

 gins the last of April and ends in the 

 early days of June. Surely these 



Ducks, which are of great economic 

 value, should receive our fullest protec- 

 tion and never be shot in the spring, for 

 frequently they are brought to the cook 

 when they contain well developed eggs. 

 This is not only true of the excellent food 

 bird of our illustration, but of other 

 ducks as well. We hope that those of 

 our readers who are sportsmen will re- 

 member this fact and help to protect 

 these valuable birds by refraining to 

 shoot them near the time of their mating 

 and nesting season. 



AN AUNT JANE STORY 



CURIOUS TREES 



"When we were walking in the forest 

 this afternoon you spoke. Aunt Jane, of 

 the old English trees you saw in Burn- 

 ham wood. . Were they oaks or 

 beeches?" 



"The most curiously shaped ones 

 were beeches. I saw a very large beech, 

 said to be eight hundred years old. It 

 was hollow and an oak tree had grown 

 up within it coming out at an opening 

 a number of feet above the ground. Yet 

 the branches of the beech, despite of 

 the hollow trunk, were well covered with 

 leaves so the upper part of the tree 

 looked flourishing. 



"The first glimpse of another immense 

 beech reminded one of the form of an 

 elephant and it was called the 'elephant 

 beech/ " 



"What a very queer tree, but, Auntie, 

 I did not know trees ever lived to be 

 so many hundreds of vears old," said 

 Edith. 



"But they do," was the response. 

 "The cypress and olive often live that 

 long. The Oriental plane, the spruce 

 and the lime, have been known to live 

 more than one thousand years, while 

 the oak, cedar, and yew have, respect- 

 ively, lived from one to three thousand 

 years." 



"Who," cried John, "was wise enous^h 

 to find out about the age of trees? Ed 

 like to know." 



"Botanical archaeologists have what 

 they consider an infallible test, but some- 

 times the data is furnished by historical 

 record or tradition." 



"Trees have a way of telling their own 

 age, have they not, Auntie?" said How- 

 ard. 



"Yes, for in many kinds of trees the 

 increase in size takes place by an annual 

 deposit of wood spread evenly on the 

 surface of the preceding one, so that by 

 counting the layers the age is deter- 

 mined." 



"I once read," said Alice, "of some 

 big trees in Africa in which houses were 

 built by the natives for security against 

 floods and enemies, and in Borneo some 

 of the tree-houses are so sumptuous as 

 to have platforms in front and ladders 

 for ascent and descent." 



"Hello! There are 'tree-dwellers' as 

 well as 'cliff-dwellers,' then," cried John. 

 "Do tell us something about trees with 

 odd names or odd uses." 



"Well, there is the 'sorrowful tree' 

 found on an island near Bombay." 



"How did it get such a name?" the 

 children cried in one breath. 



"Because it flourishes only at night. 

 Not a flower is to be seen at sunset, but 

 soon after it is covered with fragrant 

 blossoms which close or fall oflf as soon 

 as the sun rises." 



"Now I think of it," said Howard. 



108 



