Nesting of the Ruddy Duck. 
BY WM. G. SMITH, LOVELAND, COLORADO. 
Although the Buddy Duck ( Erismatura 
rubida ) is quite common here during the breed- 
ing season, but very few of them undertake the 
burden and responsibility of housekeeping, as 
they prefer to drop their eggs on a muskrat 
mound, or in the water when they cannot entice 
one of the few good housewives of their own 
variety from home long enough to leave them a 
legacy in the shape of an egg. 
I once found a nest with three eggs which on 
the second morning contained eight, (of course 
they were all one set 1) 
The Buddy Duck commences to lay about the 
middle of June, and I have found young birds 
unable to fly on the sixteenth of October. 
Unlike other ducks the Buddy builds a very 
neat compact nest, exactly like the Bedwing- 
Blackbird, in composition and structure, but 
always pulls the tops of the flags together to 
form a roof. I suppose that is done to make a 
shade against the hot sun, or to conceal them. 
It piles up a lot of roots on one side of the nest 
for a runway and is generally placed where the 
water is at least a foot deep, ft is about six 
inches in diameter inside, and as the usual 
number of eggs is nine they are piled on top of 
each other. Although one of the smallest of 
our ducks, the eggs are larger than those of the 
Mallard or the Great Blue Heron, measuring 
about 2J x 11 inches. Six which I found weigh- 
ed as much as a fresh killed specimen that was 
in good condition. They are creamy white, 
, very hard shelled, and quite rough. The young 
leave the nest as soon as hatched, then catch 
them if you can. 
Q.& O . XIII,, Sept. 1838 p. 132 
The Ruddy Duck and Its Nests. 
While collecting at Santa Cruz, Cal., the 
past season, I found several nests of the 
Ruddy Duck, ( Erismatura rubida.') The 
location was a salt lagoon of about forty 
acres in extent, encircled with a belt of 
tules* from ten to fifty feet in width. The 
nests were usually built near the centre of 
the tules, and just above the water, which 
was two or three feet deep, and were inac- 
cessible except by wading, as the tules 
were too thick to allow a boat to pass 
through them. The nests were all con- 
structed of dry tules; those forming the 
lining were picked into fine shreds and 
slightly mixed with down of the parents. 
Nests were from eight to fifteen inches 
high, and ten to twelve in diameter. The 
cavity varied in size as much as the nests, 
but not in proportion to them, as the high- 
est and most firmly built of any I saw had 
a cavity that was only large enough to 
*The word “ Tules,” pronounced tu-les, is in common use 
in California for a kind of reed found plentifully in ponds 
and streams.— Ed. 
hold two eggs in the first layer, and so 
shallow that the three other eggs it con- 
tained were above the level of the nest. 
This nest also varied from the others in 
having a slight covering of tules over the 
eggs. I first visited the lagoon and saw 
; the Ducks on May 12th, believing they 
id their nests there. Not then having 
sufficient time to make a thorough search, 
I waited until the 26th, and then took a 
boat, and for several hours hunted unsuc- 
cessfully along the edge and through the 
tules where they were thin enough to admit 
a boat. However, as the Ruddys were 
still there, I made up my mind to wade and 
make another search. On carrying out 
my plans, a few days later, I was surprised 
on arriving at the lagoon to find only five 
or six Ruddys in sight. As they were 
males, I surmised the females were attend 
: ing to household cares, so prepared to 
i make them a call, but only succeeded in 
finding one nest. However, as this con- 
tained five eggs, the first I had ever found, 
I felt quite elated. I removed the eggs 
and called again on the 26th of June. Ev- 
idently I was expected, for I found the 
nest deserted, but on looking around in 
the vicinity I found two other nests, with 
nineteen eggs in each. I took both sets 
and one of the nests, the owner of which 
was more generous than the others, as she 
constructed another nest on the same site 
and laid ten eggs for me. I removed them 
on the 24th of July. Incubation was then 
well advanced; the embryos were about 
the same size in each egg, which showed 
the bird had changed her mode of incuba- 
tion, as the eggs in the first set varied from 
a fresh one to five that were just on the 
point of hatching. The eggs were ar- 
ranged three layers thick in each of the 
nests containing nineteen; which to me 
was a strange arrangement. Considering 
the number of eggs and their size, which 
in proportion to the birds is quite large, 
averaging 2.46x1.83, it seems to be the 
