THE HARLEQUIN DUCK 367 
—no duck! and what may have been their 
ghosts rising from their watery graves sixty 
yards away. 
They make their nests on the ground or in 
the hollow of a tree, lining the cavity with 
grass, leaves, moss or down. The number of 
eggs is from six to ten—usually eight—of a 
grayish green color. 
This is a very curiously marked duck, beau- 
tifully plumaged in its full dress, which, it is 
probable, is not put on before the third spring. 
The general color of the species is a dull bluish, 
almost purplish, darker and nearly black on the 
top of the head, lower back, rump and tail. 
The body color is darker on the head and neck 
than on the breast and back, here growing more 
brownish in tone. The flanks bright chestnut. 
A white patch on each side at the root of the 
tail. Speculum purplish with a metallic lus- 
tre. A patch of white at the base of the bill; 
stripe of chestnut above each eye, and a small 
circular patch of white behind the eye, with a 
long, narrow stripe of the same color running 
down each side of the hind neck. A collar of 
white running around the lower neck, this 
black-edged, and another lower down on the 
