principal flight of foreign fowl does not arrive- till the weather-
becomes severe.; at that,, time all sorts arrive, with the exception
of the Garganey, which we do not^see before the
spring of the year, and then only for a short time previously
to the-different descriptions of wild-fowl migrating tq ^ lh en
countries.
The Wild Duck is an early breeder ; and Mr. Waterton,
in his published essay on this species, considers that the old
birds remain pairs through. the I entire year ; and th a t. the
young ones* which have been hatched in the preceding spring,
choose . their mates long before, they depart for the Arctic,
regions in the following -year. With his usual felicity .of'
expression this gèntleman observes,-,54 I have a favourite
hollow oak f$pe_jûb a steep hill, -into which I .can retiré to
watch the movements of the pretty visitors. From this I
can often see a male and female on theewater beneath me,-
nodding and bowing to each other with as much ceremony,
as though they were swimming a minuet,7 if I m§y .use the
term. Hence I conclude that there is mutual loye in the
exhibition, and that a union is formed.’5
The nest is composed^of grass, intermixed and lined with
down, and -is placed on the ground, sometiihes near the margin
of rivers or lakes* at other times a considerable distance
from water* I have known the nest of the Wild Duck to-,
be found in a field of young wheat, sometimes in a thick
hedge row, or in a wood. Occasionally the duck will make
her nest at a considerable elevation from the ground. One
mentioned -by Mr. Trtttstallfrat Etchingham, in Sussex, was'
found sitting -upon nine eggs, on an oak twenty-five feet from
the ground. The author of the Rural Sports records an
instance of a duck taking possession of the deserted nest of
a hawk in a large oak ; and Montagu makes mention of one
that deposited her eggs in the principal fork of a large elm
tree, and brought her young down in safety. Mr. Selby
records an instance, within his own knówledgè, and near his
own residence, “ where a Wild Duck laid her eggs in the
old nést of a crow, at leàst'thirty feet from the ground. At
this élévation; she hatched her young ; and as none of them
Were found dead beneath the tree, it was presumed she carried
them safely to the" ground in her bill, a mode of conveyance
known ta ;bë frequently adopted by the Eider Duck.” I
have a note of a nest with fifteen eggs, upon which the female
was sitting hard, just ready, to hatch,' on the 3rd of May.
The eggs are-of a greenish-white, colour, smooth on the surface,
two inches three lines and a half long, by one inch seven
lines in breadth. The young ducks are two months or ten
weeks before they can fly, and formerly advantage was taken
of this-inability, to havé, in the fens, an annual driving of
the young ducks before they took wing. > Numbers Of people
assembled, who beat a vast tract, and forced the birds into a
/net placed a b tle 'spot where the sport was to terminate. A
^-hundred and fifty dozens have been taken .at once ; but this
practice being supposed to be detrimental, has been abolished
® |f act of Parliament.—-Pewwawf.
These birds feed on grain, or seeds, worms, slugs, insects,
and small fish. ‘ As soon as the female begins to sit the
males leave them, and soon after undergo that remarkable
change in the colour of their plumage, which has already
/been referred to in the males of several species belonging to
this division.of this extensive family*. :
The change in the Mallard is thus characteristically described
by Mr. Waterton from personal observation.
u At the close of the breeding-season the drake undergoes
a ; very remarkable change of plumage; on viewing it,, all
speculation on the part of the ornithologist is utterly confounded
; for there is not the smallest clue afforded him, by
which he may be enabled to trace out the cause of this strange
phenomenon. To Him alone, who has ordered the Ostrich