THE BIRDS OF NORTH KENT. 51 



near to margins of water. The nest just described was some 

 distance from water. Another one of quite a different type I 

 found in the centre of a meadow of rough grass. In this case 

 the bird had scratched out a hollow in the ground in the centre 

 of a very thick bunch of grass. The hollow was lined with 

 grass-stems, and the down formed a thick top covering. The 

 bird was off this nest when I found it, and the down was drawn 

 right over the eggs. It was exceptionally dark, almost black, in 

 colour, and on that account was very far from being an aid to 

 concealment, looking, in fact, like some black furry animal lying 

 in the grass. The bird, however, when sitting on this nest, was 

 very difficult to see, as it sat low in the grass, which drooped 

 over it so much as in a great measure to conceal it. Favourite 

 nesting-places also are certain floating islands of aquatic vegeta- 

 tion, which are numerous in some of the fleets. The nests made 

 in these spots are somewhat after the type of the last one de- 

 scribed. I think it is fairly certain that the bird does not start 

 to make the downy portion of its nest until after the full clutch 

 of eggs is laid, and it has begun to incubate. I have watched 

 the layings in many nests, and they have always borne out this 

 theory. The down is really just an outer covering quite separate 

 from the nest-hollow, holding itself together by the nature of the 

 filaments, and worked by the duck from the outside margin of 

 the nest to the centre. If you find a nest with a covering drawn 

 over the eggs, which is the natural way for the duck to leave it, 

 you will always be able to separate the down from the centre 

 without breaking its coherence, and you can push it back round 

 the outside edge into a circular ring. You can then draw it 

 together again with your fingers into the exact state in which you 

 found it ; and there is little doubt that in doing so you are doing 

 with your fingers exactly what the bird does with its bill. My 

 notes on the laying of the eggs point to one egg being laid each 

 day until the clutch is completed. In the late spring you may 

 often come on broods of the ducklings feeding with the parent 

 birds along the ditches. Upon such occasions the whole family 

 will often lie absolutely still upon the surface of the water 

 amongst the growth at the edge of the ditch, putting all their 

 trust in their protective coloration. The old bird general^ lies 

 with its head stretched out along the surface of the water. When 



