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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