The Fulvous Tree Duck 



are not above reproach, there are enough indubitably wedded pairs to 

 keep up the traditions of home. Nests are built either in the heavy grass 

 of damp meadows or in the area of dwarf sedge which borders the marshes, 

 or in the depths of the cat-tails themselves. If the ground is dry, a mere 

 depression suffices; but if not, the bird is capable of weaving a sturdy 

 basket, whether of wire-grass or of cat-tails, and this will lift the eggs clear 

 of the water by a foot or more. The bird does not strip herself of down, as do 

 her lavish sisters, but she takes pains to break down the surrounding grass 

 or reeds, so that her eggs will be sheltered from the searching gaze, and 



Taken near Los Ban 



n/19 FULVOUS TREE DUCK 



THE NEST IS THE ONE PREVIOUSLY SHOWN 



Photo by the Author 



she from the sun. A little runway of broken reeds or trodden-down 

 grasses leads from this retreat; and as the bird flushes at 25 or 30 feet, the 

 finding of the nest is not always an easy matter. The bird, moreover, is 



1881 



