50 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



and the nest was in the very topmost twigs. Without a thought 

 of Wild Ducks in my mind, I made my way to the top somewhat 

 painfully, on account of the strong, large, and very sharp thorns 

 which covered the tree in profusion. As I put my hand over 

 the edge of the nest the bird flew off almost in my face, seeming 

 such a giant of a bird as it flapped about, that it was not till it 

 had got clear of the tree that I collected myself sufficiently to see 

 what it was. The nest contained ten eggs already very hard sat 

 on April 24th. Of course, there is the old problem to solve 

 here, as to how these young ducklings would reach the ground in 

 safety. A shepherd living in a house on the marsh-levels told 

 me this year (1906) that for two successive seasons a pair of 

 these birds had nested on the ridge of a haystack near the 

 house. He is confident that their method of getting their duck- 

 lings down from such places is of the simplest. The day after 

 all the eggs are hatched the duck, according to his account, 

 leaves the nest, flies down to the ground underneath, and starts 

 calling to its progeny. The latter hear the call, and, in obedi- 

 ence to the instinct to follow it, or go to it, simply tumble down 

 over the edge of the stack on to the ground. He says that he 

 has watched the duck standing on the ground calling like this, 

 and, although not near enough to see the ducklings fall, has 

 shortly afterwards seen the brood following the parent bird down 

 to the water. Falling over the edge of a haystack on to grass or 

 litter is, however, a comparatively easy method of making a start 

 in life for the young ducklings as compared to tumbling through 

 the numerous prickly branches of an old blackthorn-tree. My 

 sympathies certainly go out to the brood in the Magpie's nest, 

 which must have had a most thorny introduction to the struggle 

 for existence. The most usual site chosen, taking my own 

 experience as a basis, is the centre of a tussock of grass or 

 rushes close to water. One somewhat unusual nest I found was 

 right in the centre of an open space covered with the stumps of 

 cut reeds. A raised platform had first of all been made with 

 bits of reed, and on the top of this had been formed a circular 

 wall of down fully nine inches high. With the bird sitting on it 

 this structure looked like a mound raised some twelve or fourteen 

 inches above the flat ground. It is also somewhat unusual to 

 find the nest, when made, on the marsh-levels, anywhere except 



