THE BIRDS OF NORTH KENT. 53 



nests in 1905, and five more in 1906, it appears that the bird 

 keeps to one definite method far more than the Mallard does. 

 Nearly always at some little distance from water, out in the 

 middle of a meadow, where last year's dry grass is still standing 

 so as to afford some little cover, it will scratch a cup in the soil, 

 some five inches in diameter and four inches in depth. This it 

 lines thickly with grass. As in the case of the Mallard, it lays — 

 at any rate its first few eggs — without making any covering of 

 down. A nest with four eggs, found on April 16th, 1906, had 

 no sign of down about it. The nest-hollow being made gener- 

 ally amongst the standing blades of last year's dead grass, as the 

 spring advances, fresh grass grows rankly under the shelter of 

 the old growth, and so helps to conceal the sitting bird. The 

 downy covering is made after the same style of pattern as that 

 of the Mallard. A peculiarity worth noticing is that both birds 

 get a considerable amount of little short pieces of dead grass 

 mixed up with the down. This grass appears as if it has been 

 broken up into pieces by the bird itself, and, if so, this mixture 

 with the down might perhaps not be accidental, because its 

 entanglement is a distinct aid to holding the down together. 

 Watching these nests, as I got opportunity — more especially 

 during 1906 — I found that the eggs were always covered by the 

 down being drawn over them when the bird left its nest of its 

 own free will. The eggs on such occasions were always very 

 warm ; in fact, the thick covering of down must be one of 

 the best natural non-conductors of heat that could be impro- 

 vised. Owing to the shadow cast by the long blades of grass 

 these down-covered nests are not easy to see, passing, under 

 careless observation, for rough clods of soil amongst the grass- 

 stems. If the bird has commenced incubation it sits very closely 

 on its eggs. I have stood right over one for some minutes, 

 watching it ; its head and beak were turned back over its 

 shoulder, and its bright eyes were fixed upon me the whole 

 time. It seemed to be able to depress itself amongst the grass- 

 stems in quite a wonderful manner for such a comparatively 

 large bird. The grass having already begun to get long, it might 

 have been easily passed without being noticed. When the sitting 

 bird is disturbed it invariably brings into play all those well- 

 known devices of fluttering along the ground in pretence of 



