

I^v- %v.. 



*^ ^ 



*iStf.* 



V^ ^y S ^ V5 *~^"'^^S 



"^H 



^'s 



^«^a 





Mallard drake rising to defend his pond 



behavior differences between the sexual intruder and the uninterested mi- 

 grant. Surely such physiological influence governs our own human aware- 

 ness of companions. The youth of twenty years perceives certain charac- 

 teristics in a girl of his own age of which the lad of ten is not aware. 



Against this sharp awareness in the spring, let us compare the behavior 

 of autumn. When hunting far afield I seldom carry bulky decoys. I use the 

 first birds bagged, arranging them in the shallows or on the stubble with 

 their necks held up with willow wands. Even at a distance of one hundred 

 yards or more a man can detect the counterfeit. I wait with confidence, 

 however, and if it is a day for gunning, it is not long before some duck has 



41 



