2i8 BIRDS, BEASTS, AND FISHES 



of a river-wall, in a clump of rush, or by a broad-edge, only 

 taking pains to hide their eggs when they go off to feed 

 by putting some mixed rush and feathers over them. And 

 like many monogamous birds, the male often commits adul- 

 tery and rape in captivity, as well as in the wild state. 

 I have observed this fact ; and I have seen a gander rape 

 a duck, as well as a swan rape another's spouse. Year 

 after year, if not disturbed, they will return to the old 

 spot to nest, generally in the heart of a rush marsh 

 near a dike or broad. Often the ice-bound rivers still 

 ring to the skater's steel when they begin to lay, and 

 fenmen have found their eggs " hard-setting-on " before 

 the middle of March. Sharp frosts and destructive rainfalls 

 do not prevent them laying nor sitting either. When the 

 hen-bird is sitting in meditation — her head drawn down into 

 her shoulders, and all but her tail and back buried in soft 

 down — the drake is not far off, often feeding on weed in a 

 neighbouring dike ; so cautious is she, that you may walk 

 within a yard of her, and though she can smell you, she 

 will not budge ; but if you do put her off, she will feign 

 lameness, or play some character in adversity. And she acts 

 with reason ; for ducks, like rabbits and hares, give no scent 

 so long as they remain still. But even acts of evasion are at 

 times worthless ; for sometimes the drake betrays the nest by 

 hovering over it, signalling danger to her. But, as a rule, 

 should you wish to find a mallard's nest, ignore the antics and 

 calls of the drake, and watch the hen-bird, if you can get a 

 sight of her, and when she drops into a marsh, look well 

 over the moist rushy knolls ; or should she alight on a wall, 

 search the dry cars of bramble, sallow, and alder; or should 

 you disturb her on her nest, never expect to find it at your 

 feet, for she is wise, and when danger is near slips off her 

 hidden eggs and runs fifty or a hundred yards before she 

 rises on the wing, quacking to tell you where the nest ought 

 to be. She has been known to nest in low willows, and take 

 her young down in her bill when the day arrives for the 



