In a message dated 5/17/00 2:45:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
narendraabhagwat at hotmail.com writes:

> But no, the Duck(female) which I observed, actually ate
> everying else except the shells. (20+ days of incubating).
> Shells are still lying there. I observed this very
> closely as the duck's nest was just below our window.

Might the female have been disturbed, prompting her to abandon the nest? She
couldn't move the eggs, and there is no sense in letting the nutrients
contained in them go to waste.

Nick Pharris
Olympia, WA
NJPharris at aol.com