The eggs are somewhat pointed, and placed in the nest with the points toward the center. In this way the bird can more easily cover the eggs. We find, among most birds, that after the nest is made, the mother bird thinks it her duty to hatch the young. The father bird usually feeds her while she sits on the eggs. In some of the bird stories, you have read how the father and mother birds take turns in building the nest, sitting on the nest, and feeding the young. Some father birds do all the work in building the nest, and take care of the birds when hatched. Among plovers, the father bird usually hatches the young, and lets the wife do as she pleases. After the young are hatched they help each other take care of them. Plovers have long wings, and can fly very swiftly. The distance between their summer and winter homes is sometimes very great. THE MALLARD DUCK. We should probably think this the most beautiful of ducks, were the Wood Duck not around. His rich glossy-green head and neck, snowy white collar, and curly feathers of the tail are surely marks of beauty. But Mr. Mallard is not so richly dressed all of the year. Like a great many other birds, he changes his clothes after the holiday season is over. When he does this, you can hardly tell him from his mate who wears a sober dress all the year. Most birds that change their plumage wear their bright, beautiful dress during the summer. Not so with Mr. Mallard. He wears his holiday clothes during the winter. In the summer he looks much like his mate. Usually the Mallard family have six to ten eggs in their nest. They are of a pale greenish color--very much like the eggs of our tame ducks that we see about the barnyards. Those who have studied birds say that our tame ducks are descendants of the Mallards. If you were to hear the Mallard's _quack_, you could not tell it from that of the domestic duck. The Mallard usually makes her nest of grass, and lines it with down from her breast. You will almost always find it on the ground, near the water, and well sheltered by weeds and tall grasses. It isn't often you see a duck with so small a family. It must be that some of the ducklings are away picking up food. Do you think they look like young chickens? [Illustration: From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. MALLARD DUCK.] THE MALLARD DUCK. The Mallard Duck is generally distributed in North America, migrating south in winter to Panama, Cuba, and the Bahamas. In summer the full grown male resembles the female, being merely somewhat darker in color. The plumage is donned by degrees in early June, and in August the full rich winter dress is again resumed. The adult males in winter plumage vary chiefly in the extent and richness of the chestnut of the breast.