Wood Duck. Bangor Maine January 4th /II. My dear Mr. Brewster Cambridge Mass. Referring to our conversation in regard to Wood Duck and their habits. " I have hunted for the past thirty years more or less along the Columbia River Bottoms below Portland Oregon in the neighborhood of which great quantities of Wood Duck breed in timber lands of the foot- hills along the river. I had often heard the statement that the young were brought down to the water from their nests in the hollow trees on the backs of the old birds and it was my fortune to see this done one day in July during 1895 when I was doing some surveying in Columbia County, Oregon. We were at luncheon close to the edge of a small lake or pond when two Wood Duck, male and female, skimmed close past us to the water with their young on their backs, the little ones holding on by their claws and bills. They were unable to bring them all at once and the male stayed with those brought and the female left soon bring- ing down the balance. The moment the old birds struck the water the little ones took to the water in the proverbial manner." Very truly yours David Loring.