i9i4 _I 9 I 5] Outer Hebrides and in Midlothian. 175 



the Loch, and so were unable to migrate to their northern 

 nesting haunts. 



The mallard is the most common, and closely resembles the 

 domestic species. It is strange that the domestic male bird 

 is polygamous, while in the wild state it is monogamous. I 

 have found the nest in all sorts of places, sometimes far from 

 water. They are known to breed on trees twenty and thirty 

 feet from the ground. About ten or twelve years ago a wild 

 duck had its nest in the policies of Duddingston House. In 

 an elm tree a large limb shot out horizontally from the trunk, 

 about fourteen feet from the ground, below which was a cavity, 

 where one would naturally expect owls or jackdaws to make 

 their nests. Strange to say, a wild duck was observed to 

 alight on the branch above the cavity, and with wonderful 

 dexterity scramble down into it. Great interest was mani- 

 fested by those who knew about it, and arrangements were 

 being made to watch with the view of discovering by what 

 process of ingenuity the young ducklings would be conveyed 

 to the ground. It was visited by a number of gentlemen, 

 including the late Dr Traquair of the Edinburgh Natural 

 History Museum. The duck being no longer seen, it was 

 concluded she had hatched and removed her young to a 

 place of safety. Not being satisfied with this I examined 

 the tree carefully, and at once had my suspicions aroused by 

 the bark being marked by the nails of boots. The tree had 

 evidently been scaled. With the aid of a ladder I reached 

 the nest, when I found my suspicions confirmed. Not a 

 particle of shell was to be seen or anything to indicate that a 

 nest had been there at all ; and it at once became apparent 

 that some one had ruthlessly carried off the eggs. I have 

 frequently known of ducks nesting in trees, but either in a 

 cleft where branches separate, or else by taking advantage of 

 an old pigeon nest among the branches ; but the case in 

 question is the only one that has come under my observation 

 where the nest was in a cavity little bigger than the bird 

 herself. 



Many theories have been advanced as to how young ducks 

 get down from a height, but speculation was set at rest by a 

 nest being watched from a window at the Haining near 

 Selkirk. The ducklings simply dropped to the ground, and 



VOL. VII. M 



