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190 THE CONDOR Vol. XIII Several nests were found far back ou the dry prairie and high above the high- water mark, one being almost a mile from the lake. These nests were usually well concealed in the weeds, and were warmly lined with down of a somewhat darker shade than that found in the teals' nests. The. birds were close sitters, often allowing us almost to step upon them before taking wing. The generous lining of down which was found in uearly all the nests was almost invariably used to cover the eggs during the absence of the parent, and many nests that had little or no concealment were difficult to locate after having been cunningly concealed by the mother duck, even though we knew almost the exact location. The bulky mass of down was pushed outward and upward when the bird was on the nest until it came well up about her body, but this very thing made the nests much more con- spicuous when the birds were flushed unexpectedly, without sufficient time to Fig. 62. MIXED NEST CONTAINING FIVE EGGS OF RUDDY AND FIVE OF REDI?EAD cover the eggs. One typical nest was found May 31, 1908 deeply sunk in a dense growth of very tall, rank grass on a small island in the lake, which would not have been discovered,but for this fact. On June 8, 1907 a nest was found under a spreading bunch of alfalfa on a small ridge in alow marshy meadow. On June 22, it contained nine eggs. The brooding female was unusually tame, and repeated attempts were made to photograph her, several of which were nearly successful. June 29 the female was still incu- bating but the nest contained only five eggs. The next day we found it occupied by a bull snake three feet nine inches in length, which had just swallowed an egg, only two of which now remained in the nest. It took the snake some time to force the unbroken egg (which was somewhat larger than its own body) down its throat about three inches, and it was regurgitated instantly upon our touching the