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likely to be mischievous. It is excessively amusing to see an old Duck waddling away as if with the 
greatest ditficulty, her wings drooping and flapped occasionally, in order to assist her apparently 
struggling etforts to escape, whilst all the time she manages to keep in advance of even a fleet dog, 
until at last, having drawn him to what she deems a safe distance from her nest, she at once rises 
from the ground, screaming out her harsh danger-signal, to the complete discomfiture of the panting 
dog. Upon the danger-signal being uttered by the parent birds, the young ones usually make at 
once for the nearest flowing water, down which they float close to the bank, seeking cover, and 
availing themselves, with great sagacity, of every opportunity of shelter or concealment, in which they 
are assisted by their similarity in general colour to the soil and vegetation.” 
All of our Plovers resort to similar expedients for the protection of their young, but some 
species appear to develop a greater degree of intelligence than others. For example, the Oystei- 
catcher, when in danger of molestation, has been known to bury its downy young in the soft sand, 
thus ensuring absolute concealment. Captain Mair assures me that he has witnessed this himself in 
the Bay of Plenty, and that, keeping his eye on the spot, be has actually scooped the young birds out 
with his hands. 
Mr. Proctor Smith relates the following incident within his own experience at Otago : — “ I have 
seen a drake of this species gallantly beat off a large Hawk from the duck I had wounded. On my 
reaching the scene of combat, the cunning drake feigned to be wounded, and limped away beyond 
gunshot, while the duck escaped by concealing herself in a large marsh close by.” 
In selecting a breeding-place it displays some fastidiousness : generally speaking, the nest, rudely 
formed of dry grass, and deeply lined with feathers and down, is placed among the reeds and tussocks 
near the water’s edge ; sometimes, however, it is situated on rising ground at a distance from its 
ordinary haunts ; and in one instance, in the Upper Manawatu, I found a pair breeding in a small 
cavern in the face of a sandstone cliff overhanging the river *. The eggs vary in number from five to 
nine ; and occasionally there are more, Mr. J. D. Enys having met with a nest containing eleven ; 
and subsequently, in the Upper Waimakariri with a brood of thirteen young birds. The largest 
brood I have met with myself numbered eight. The eggs are of a regular ovoid form, measuring 2‘6 
inches in length by 1‘9 in breadth, perfectly smooth on the surface, and of a yellowish cream-colour. 
Others in my son’s collection are somewhat smaller, measuring 2'4 inches in length by 1'7 in breadth, 
and are of an almost invisible greenish- white tint. 
In May 1866 Dr. Sclater reported to the Zoological Society that a pair of these birds had bred 
for the first time in the spring of the previous year in one of the small ponds in the Gardens. Five 
eggs were laid in one of the breeding-boxes about the second week in April and five young birds were 
hatched on the 15th May. One of the five died in the first downy plumage ; and when about three 
months old the other four moulted into the first feather-dress, in which stage they were all alike, 
having the head and neck black. In the autumnal moult three of them threw off the black hood and 
assumed the characteristic white head of the female. 
* A correspondent (Mr. W. E. Barker) adds the following particulars “ Two men inform me they have seen young 
Paradise Ducks carried by their mother ; one man saw the Duck fly down on a small lagoon, and as soon as she touched the 
water the young Ducks were swimming around her. In the other case two men were watching a Paradise Duck which was 
flying swiftly but pretty close to the surface of the water ; she settled quietly, and to their astonishment immediately there 
appeared around her several young ones. In both instances it happened in open water, and none of the observers could see 
where the young Ducks had come from, except that the moment the parent touched the water the young appeared around her. 
I have hoard of numerous instances of Paradise Ducks building their nests in trees. One was rather a peculiar case : the bird 
building its nest 25 feet up a black-pine tree, close alongside the road going from Mt. Peel to Mr. Acland’s station. 
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