Page:Condor13(4).djvu/11

 July, 1911 NESTING NOTES ON DUCKS OF THE BARR LAKE REGION, COLO. 12,5 not find a single nest where the eggs were the least bit damp; and the large ma- jority were in perfectly dry locations in close proximity to water. The concealment of the better built nests, especially those in the center of a tussock of rank grass,was well nigh perfect; in fact in most cases we were unable to see either the brooding bird or the eggs from a distance of five or six feet even when we knew the exact location of the nest. Upon leaving the nest during incu- bation the parent covered the eggs with the downy rim of the nest and the conceal- ment thus afforded was remarkable. We found nests exhibiting every possible degree of skill in construction, but whether the nest was a rude affair of grasses and trash scraped into a little hollo TM in the ground; or whether it was a beautifulIf woven basket-like structure deeply set into a soft cradle of rich grass, and luxuriously lined with an abundance of soft gray down from the parent's breast, we invariably encountered the strong mother instinet characteristic of all Wild 'duelrs. The brooding parent seldom left her nest until we were within three or rotor paces of her, and often we approached to within arm's length. Ill one instance where the parent had become somewhat accustomed to me I actually touched the bird's back before she flushed. Several farmers living near the lakes told us of killing or maiming the brooding birds with mowing machines while cutting the first crop of alfalfa. This remark- able attachment to the nest is all the more wonderful when one considers the difficulty of getting within gunshot of these birds during the open season, which in Colorado extends. to April 5,scarcely more than a month before the birds begin to lay. It is, however,very interesting to note how quickly all the ducks(and more particularly the teal) recognize the protection of the closed season. Late ill May one may stroll along the shores of the smaller lakes and watch from- one to five hundred ducks swimming about within a hundred yards or so, without exhibiting any particular fear of the intruder, whereas six weeks earlier his distant appearance wonld be greeted with a roar of wings. Several radical departures from the characteristic habits were encountered. One bird had built her nest on a little flat amid some short blue grass which afforded her no concealment whatever. As she brooded her eggs she was plainly visible at a distance of twenty yards or more. She allowed me to approach to within four or five feet and set up my camera for an exposure; and then instead of springing lightly into the air as usual, she ambled awkardly of[ the nest, waddled slowly between the legs of my tripod; uttering lazy little quacks of protest,and final- ly after walking a distance of thirty yards or more took flight. While ploughing our way thiough a dense cat-tail swamp in water above our knees we frightened a teal from a nest in a musk-rat house. A careful search finally revealed the eggs fully a foot back from the entrance of a deep cavity in the side of the house. To our surprise the nest contained four eggs of the teal and five eggs of some big duck, all of which were incubated. Another queer nest was found, which was a shallow depression on the side of a dilapidated musk-rat house, which had been originally built between a fence post and its diagonal brace. The lower barbed wire of the fence prevented the top of the house from collapsing, while the side weathered away, leaving a cavity well protected by the overhanging top. In this cavity without a sign of lining or a bit of concealment lay the ten conspicuous white eggs. They could be readily seen from a distance of twenty yards. Another beautifully built and concealed nest with eleven eggs was just a frac- tion less than three feet from a nest where a patient little mother Spotted Sandpiper brooded her four eggs.