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Sept., 1913 UNUSUAL NESTING SITE OF THE MALLARD 177 female mallard, "quacking" as she flew rather slowly out through an opening in the trees. She circled about once, then disappeared do?m the slough. I climbed to tile nest, eight or nine feet up, and found nine eggs. The re- ports were true in every particular. Tile farmer now left me to my own devices and I proceeded to take several pho?ographs. Tile strip of woods at this point was not over thirty or forty yards wide, while tile nest tree stood some forty feet from tile slough bank. It was a shaggy old leaning ash, covered with moss, scattering ferns and other plants, with dried leaves, sticks and rubbish accumulated in vari- ous crotches. A large limb brandling off from the slanting trunk, formed a level place wilere dirt and moss had gath- ered, making a good foundation for tile nest, whidl was simply a depression well lined with down. After making several exposures of tile nest and eggs, I fastened the camera to a nearby limb, with a long cord attached'to the sh,t- ter. I covered it with moss and ferns, arranged tile cord along the ground, then went away in the hopes that tile mallard would re- turn to be photographed. But nearly an hour later I crept up carefully, to find that she had not been back. Evidently the camera was not well enough concealed to overcome her sus- picions, and, as I feared I had already kept her off the nest too long, ?[ took down tile apparatus and left tile place. On May 3 I went back to see if anything further had de- veloped. As I neared tile tree. I could see tile head of the mallard above the edge of the nest, watching me intently. I looked at her through file field glasses and made a sketch of her on the nest; then tried to get nearer. But the mo- ment I began to move up she flew off as before toward the slough. The eggs were still there ?nd I could see no disturbance of any kind. A pair of crows had seemed quite concerned at my approach. I thought the duck's nest was the center of their interest and they were virtuously calling "thief" when they imagined a nest robbery was about to take place. But now I spied their nest in the top of an ash tree not more than forty feet away, and