. Birds of the water, wood & waste . fearful of losing mychange. T may have erected it in too closeproximity to the nest. xVt any rate nextmorning, when revisiting the spot, I foundthat the eggs had been thrown out of thenest on all sides, and its edges trampledand flat. The blunt breaks on the ruinedeggs, and the presence of the whole clutchimeaten in any degree pointed to thisdestruction as having been the work of theduck herself. No hawk, or rat, or weasel would havethus wantonly destroyed them. Had verminbeen at work, most of the eggs would ha^^ebeen devoiired, and one or two probablymissi
. Birds of the water, wood & waste . fearful of losing mychange. T may have erected it in too closeproximity to the nest. xVt any rate nextmorning, when revisiting the spot, I foundthat the eggs had been thrown out of thenest on all sides, and its edges trampledand flat. The blunt breaks on the ruinedeggs, and the presence of the whole clutchimeaten in any degree pointed to thisdestruction as having been the work of theduck herself. No hawk, or rat, or weasel would havethus wantonly destroyed them. Had verminbeen at work, most of the eggs would ha^^ebeen devoiired, and one or two probablymissing. The holes, also, would have beenof different shapes and sizes. During this past season another GreyDucks nest was got, found accidentally byone of a party of scrubr-utters. It was placedamong fern nearly half a mile from thenearest water, and as the bird had returnedafter being put off, I had hopes of gettinga picture of her sitting. To effect this itwas necessary to clear away a good dealof fern in the foreground, and our work. River Scene with Blue Duck. WOOD AND WASTE 35 iinist liave attracted the attention of a pairof Harriers in tlie neighbourhood. Anyway,when returning a couple of days later wefound the clutch tumbled and devoured,the shells lying about and two eggs alto-gether gone. During the last twenty-eightyears I do not think the Grey Duck haseithei- increased or decreased on Tutira.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1910
