64 LAMPRONESSA SPONSA 



hanging boards, in woodpecker fashion. They are thus quite able to climb out of 

 any nesting hollow however deep; but this climbing propensity is lost within a few 

 days. Rogeron (1903) made the interesting observation that while young Carolina 

 Ducks frequently climb to the ceiling of their pen, they never attempt to climb down 

 again, but simply allow themselves to drop to the ground. Numerous writers have 

 noticed that the young spread their wings or their tails to break the force of the fall, 

 but both Heinroth and Rogeron have shown that even if this does occur it is quite 

 superfluous as a protection. The long fluffy down and the exceedingly small weight 

 (only about 16-24 grams) enable them to drop from any elevation on to any sur- 

 face without injury. 



More recently Dixon (1924) was present during the evacuation of three different 

 nests and in each case the young left the nest entirely under their own locomotive 

 power. It is usual for the female to entice the young to the nest-opening, but in one 

 of his cases all the young came out of their own accord while the female was off on 

 her morning vacation! We can therefore say definitely that the usual method of 

 leaving the nest is without the aid of the parent bird and in response to a stimulus so 

 strong that the nest is actually empty in some cases in less than a minute. 



Now as to whether the female herself does ever transport the young: that is a 

 question on which a great deal has and might still be written. I do not propose to 

 discuss it at length because I think we lack carefully checked and recorded observa- 

 tions. If one reads the accounts of females carrying young in the bill, on the back, 

 or between the feet, one is left a little cold, for in most of the stories the alleged 

 occurrences happened a good many years ago or were perhaps reported at second or 

 third hand. Alexander Wilson was apparently the first to write about it. Audubon, 

 too, evidently believed that the mother carried the young in her bill when the nest 

 was some distance from the water, but he says that on several occasions when the 

 nest was thirty or forty yards from the water he himself actually observed the young 

 falling out of the nest. Thirteen of Forbush's (1912) many Massachusetts corre- 

 spondents thought that the female transported the young in her bill, and one saw the 

 female push the young out. Forbush has collected many cases of transportations 

 since then and believes that some of them at least are true. He has very kindly 

 shown me many of his letters on the subject and I have read them most carefully, 

 still not entirely convinced. Of the many published records I am not going to 

 speak, for they would take much space. Most of the older writers, indeed, believed 

 that the mother carried the young either in her bill, between her feet, or on her back. 

 In this connection I might add that recent observations on Eiders nesting on high 

 cliffs show that the young are perfectly capable of tumbling from almost incredible 

 heights without the slightest injury. We know, too, that young ducks can and do 

 travel very long distances over land when led by the parent. 



Heinroth (1911) and Beebe (1914) have both described the growth of the young 



