DUCKS 241 



figure of the bird, and another of a hybrid between 

 Wild Duck and Gadwall, In a series of articles 

 entitled Oiseaux Hyhrides (Mem. Soc. Zool. France, 

 1891) he has also described a number of hybrids 

 between this and other species of wildfowl. 



On the change of plumage in ducks, see Water- 

 ton's "Essays in Nat. Hist.," 1st series, p. 196, and 

 Blyth, Mag. Nat. Hist, 1837, pp. 259, 300; and 

 on the moulting of the flight feathers by the 

 Mallard in summer, Zool., 1886, p. 228. The old 

 fen-laws prohibited the killing of wildfowl while 

 flightless. The subject of decoys is not here dealt 

 with, since an entire volume has been devoted to it 

 by Sir R. Payne Gallwey. 



It is commonly believed that Ducks always nest 

 on the ground, but the Wild Duck often nests in a 

 tree, commonly on the top of a pollard ash or willow ; 

 sometimes in the deserted nest of another bird, even 

 at some height from the ground, and often far from 

 water. 



As to the mode in which the young are brought 

 down from such heights, see an article on " Bird 

 Life in Kensington Gardens" {Field, Jan. 14, 1888), 

 where observation was kept on a Wild Duck which 

 brought off her brood from the top of a dead elm 

 tree, by simply pushing them out of the nest. 



Wild Ducks do not, as a rule, prey on fish, though 

 they may devour fish spawn when they find it ; but 

 it is on record that in the crop of a Wild Duck on 

 one occasion as many as thirty-three sticklebacks 

 were found {Field, April 1892). 



Q 



