The Cinnamon Teal 



dextrously. And I marveled yet more, when I came to remove the nest- 

 lining, to find it so scanty. In scratching around, however, to secure 

 every scrap, I was led to the old nesting hollow under the sticks, which 

 was now overflowing with disturbed nest material. The clever bird had 

 made a new hollow just beside the old one, and had abstracted her eggs 

 one by one from the danger zone, until her complement was full. No 

 doubt, in due time, she would have made use of the forsaken lining also. 



The other case was of a bird whose nest we had discovered near camp 

 at Los Banos. There were eleven eggs, and since they were hard set, 

 we dedicated them to posterity and photography. Photography fared 

 ill, however, for when the sitting female found herself increasingly ex- 

 posed to view by sundry decapitations of surrounding weed-stalks and 

 removal of investing grasses, she became more and more easily frightened, 

 so that we could do nothing with her. 



Now the nest was placed at no great distance from a pond, in which 

 the flood waters of the Mendota Canal were increasing daily. On the 

 morning of the 29th of May we saw that the rising water had surrounded 

 the little mother in her pocket of wire-grass, and that the bottom of the 

 nest was damp. But, glory be! One of the eggs is pipped, so that she 

 may be able to make it yet. Returning at eventide from our day's work, 

 we approached the nest in some trepidation, and William exclaimed, 

 "Why! What has become of the down?" Sure enough, the downy 

 walls, with which the nest had been so lavishly provided, were missing. 

 The resourceful mother had used all of the down and a lot of grass be- 

 sides, in building up the foundations of the nest, and had in this manner 

 succeeded in raising the eggs clear of the water. 



The following morning the eggs were hatched, or all save one, and 

 the nest was full of fluffy, confiding, yellow-and-dusky ducklings. They 

 were not only delightful to the eye but irresistible to the hand or the nose, 

 which, even if well educated, still delights to nuzzle "downies." The 

 mother made off with elaborate maladies, but she did not again put in 

 an appearance while we were photographing the brood. Presuming that 

 this would be our only chance, we completed the "sittings" and absented 

 ourselves for an hour or two. When we returned, the nest held only 

 five babies, presumably the younger and weaker members of the brood, 

 which, although very bright-eyed and confident, we surveyed with some 

 misgiving. Upon our return eight hours later, or at early evening, the 

 same five awaited us. They looked a little less confident now, and we 

 were troubled. It was all too evident to us that the timorous mother 

 had alighted at a distance after our first visit, and had led away only 

 those who were strong enough to answer her call, leaving the others to 

 their fate. 



1777 



