The Gadwall 
33 
broods are reared, as the mothers so commonly fall a prey to wandering foxes, 
who snap them on the nest. The female Gadwall lays from eight to fourteen 
eggs, of a bufihsh-white colour ; and, when these are fresh, without any sign of 
the evanescent green attributed to them by several authors. The measurements 
are 2"i by 1*5 in. The young Gadwall in down closely resembles the young 
Mallard ; but the whole bird is more delicately constructed, the bill finer, as 
also the streak above the eye. 
In confinement these ducks make a charming ornament to any sheet of 
water. They do well on any of the foods usually supplied to wild ducks, but 
with their love of seclusion they must have a considerable area and suitable 
places of shelter absolutely free from disturbance before they will breed. 
Many owners of small enclosures and lakes where a large quantity of the 
usual water-fowl are kept, are at a loss to know why their various ducks, all of 
which are adults, and have undoubtedly paired, will not nest, even where a 
secluded island or an abri of some sort is provided. The explanation is 
generally simple. It is a question of area and absolute quiet, and this the 
birds cannot obtain if the protected waters and their surroundings are too 
small, for one single pair of Sheldrakes or Egyptian geese will upset a 
whole community by their jealous appropriation of perhaps the only suitable 
nesting-ground. If surface-feeding ducks, on the look-out for a nice quiet spot, 
are driven away once or twice, they will not again attempt to find a nesting 
site ; rather will they, year after year, refuse to lay, or at most only drop 
an occasional egg about the banks. Give them what they want — plenty of 
room and an undisturbed covert — and once the first pair of pinioned birds have 
reared their young, their flying progeny will continue to do so in the summer, 
year after year. 
To nest in, summer-ducks and mandarins must have exactly the right sort 
of hollowed stump, protected at the top, and with a ladder leading up to the 
hole. Sheldrakes like rabbit-holes, but will take to an artificially constructed one. 
It is very difficult to induce pinioned Teal to nest in confinement ; only one 
or two experts in such matters, like Mr. St. Quintin and Mr. Blaauw, have 
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