THE WILD DUCK 317 



Like most wild-fowl the Wild Duck is particularly lively at 

 niglit, and searches for most of its food under the cover of 

 darkness. It always prefers to migrate, and even to wander 

 from one distant sheet of water to another by night. 



Although the Wild Duck may be found on the coast for 

 several months in the year, it always prefers an inland site 

 for its nest. It breeds near the fresh water, even if the loch 

 or pool of its choice be but a short distance from the sea. I 

 am of opinion that the Wild Duck pairs for life. At all 

 seasons the birds may be observed in pairs, and marks of 

 affection are continually passing between them. In winter, 

 when the Wild Duck is gregarious, they fly in pairs — that is 

 to say, the old birds ; in autumn, before they quit their up- 

 land haunts, I also see them in pairs ; and when the presence 

 of spring is visible on every side, they may invariably be ob- 

 served in pairs. The young or single birds pair in the early 

 months — a union which is only broken by death. 



The Wild Duck is an early breeder, preparations for the 

 eggs being made in the beginning of April ; but many birds, 

 especially in the north, delay their operations until May. 

 The nestino; site is a varied one. Although the bird is so 

 closely associated with the waters, its nest is by no means 

 always near them ; and what is stranger still, the bird oc- 

 casionally hatches her eggs in holes in trees, in boathouses, 

 and even in the deserted nest of a Crow or a Eook. When 

 placed near the water it is usually among reeds, tall grass, or 

 other coarse vegetation ; but when in holes or other sheltered 

 situations little provision is made for the eggs. Very often 

 the bird lays her eggs a mile or more from the water, amongst 

 heath or under a stunted bush. Here, for instance, on this 

 wild common, bordering the forest, studded with clumps of 

 thorn trees and clothed w^ith a luxuriant crrowth of heath and 

 bracken, now dry and withered and broken to the ground, 

 save where an unusually thick mass stands upright, a pair of 



