174 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



An ideal breeding ground for wild ducks is in the wide syampy 

 area where the Klamath River meanders through the marsh. The 

 lowland extends for miles and miles in places from the river channel 

 back to the hills. On the edge of the fields and especially on the 

 grassy islands on either side of the river, one can easily find duck 

 nests if he knows where to look. Yet the actual finding of the nest 

 is not always so easy, for it is generally an accident. I was wading 

 along through the tall grass south of Keno along the Klamath River 

 one morning, wondering why I did not find a nest, when suddenly 

 with a roar of wings a female Mallard flushed squarely between, my 

 feet. I had straddled the nest of ten eggs and had put my foot within 

 three or four inches of the mofher before she flapped lamely off 

 through the grass. It is a common trait, for twice during the morning 

 I nearly stepped on a brooding duck before she flushed. A Mallard 

 is loath to depart and show the location of her home. But I found that 

 after once discovered they become wilder, generally flying when I 

 approached within fifteen or twenty feet. 



In one place I found a grassy island about two hundred yards out 

 from the wooded hillside. This place had been a regular rendezvous 

 for ducks, for we located eleven deserted nests. On close examination 

 of the egg shells, I found that they had not hatched, but had been 

 raided by some egg-sucking animal. 



The destruction of duck nests along the edge of the swamp likely 

 has something to do in influencing different ducks to nest back away 

 from the marsh. I saw one Malard nest back in the woods a distance 

 of half a mile from water where one would never think of looking for 

 a duck. I found another Mallard a hundred yards up on the side of 

 the ridge above Tule Lake under a sagebrush. Along the Columbia 

 River, Mr. O. J. Murie found a Mallard nesting seven or eight feet 

 from the ground on a leaning ash tree. The side of the tree was cov- 

 ered with scattered moss, dried leaves and sticks which had accu- 

 mulated in the crotch. In this rubbish the bird had made its nest. 



The Mallard (Anas Boschas) is the best known, perhaps, of all 

 our wild ducks. It is commonly called "Green-head," and ranges in 

 general throughout the United States, more particularly in the interior 

 than on the coasts. The Black Duck or Dusky Duck (Anas obscura), 

 breeding in the northeastern states from Illinois and New Jersey north 

 to Hudson Bay and Labrador, is almost identical with the Mallard, 

 but can always be distinguished from the Mallard by the lack of 

 white in the wings. 



Two or three years ago, my attention was called to some sick Mal- 

 lards that were found on Government Island in the Columbia River. 

 Two males were found swimming about on the lake, but they could 

 not fly. Two dead birds were also picked up and examined. In the 

 stomachs of one of the dead Malards we found forty-two shot. Some 

 of these were the size of No. 6 shot; others were as small as dust 

 shot, showing that they had been worn down by the action of the 

 stomach. For many years there has been a great deal of duck shoot- 

 ing along the Columbia. There is naturally a great deal of shot scat- 

 tered about. In feeding along the mud bottoms of the ponds, ducks 

 eat these shot, mistaking them for seeds or gravel. Mr. J. H. Boyles, 

 of Tacoma, records the same thing on the flats surrounding the mouth 

 of the Nisqually River where it empties into Puget Sound near Olym- 

 pia. He examined the stomachs of two Mallards and found one con- 

 tained nineteen shot and the other twenty-seven. It seemed to be 

 purely a case of lead poisoning. The Mallard seems to be the only 

 species that is affected. 



