MALLARD OR WILD DUCK. 27 



amidst the feathers of its back. It will sleep on the bank or 

 dawdle about, picking- a scrap here and there, and at times a 

 few birds will feed at the water's edge ; but it is not until 

 the evening that " flighting " takes place. Then in couples, for 

 the Mallard pairs for life, the birds go off to the ponds, ditches, 

 or fields to seek food, returning at dawn. Food, animal or 

 vegetable, for it is omnivorous, is sifted from the mud which 

 passes through its laminated bill. In the fields it picks up 

 grain, in the woods acorns, and worms, snails, slugs, and insects 

 are all accepted ; it plucks ripe berries from the brambles 

 or the seablite seeds on the marsh, and on the sandbanks 

 devours cockles and other shellfish. In frost the majority retire 

 to salt water, but some will linger, roosting on the ice ; should 

 snow fall the oblong, half-thawed patches mark their chilly 

 beds. At all times gregarious, the winter flocks of Mallards, 

 especially on the coast, are sometimes immense, and even when 

 the ducks are sitting the drakes form little bachelor groups on 

 the water. During the diurnal rest the birds are alert, and, 

 if disturbed, all rise in a body with a rush of wings, and, 

 splitting into twos and threes, fly to and fro high above 

 gunshot. 



The flight is swift, the wing-beats, rapid and strong, produce 

 a swishing whistle. The bird springs clear of the water when 

 disturbed, shooting upwards, and when about to alight comes 

 down with head well forward, but with the body upright, striking 

 the surface with the feet and tail, ploughing up the water as 

 it checks its pace with open wing. It seldom if ever dives for 

 food, but when at play a number will splash together and take 

 short superficial under-water excursions, and a wounded bird 

 will tr}' to escape by diving. In June I disturbed a drake in 

 eclipse ; it tried to fly but failed, and was promptly chased by 

 an irate Moorhen, when it dived, followed by its pursuer. 



Immigrants arrive from August onward, but the largest 

 numbers collect on inland waters in December and January ; 



