LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN WILD FOWL. 125 



On the authority of Mr. A. M. Shields, of Los Angeles, Mr. Fred 

 A. Schneider (1893) has published the following interesting account 

 of the behavior of the young: 



After being hatched, the mother duck (joined by her mate) eecortB the young brood 

 to the nearest body of water and manifests the greatest solicitude for the welfare of 

 the little fellows, giving a signal upon the slightest approach of danger, which is fol- 

 lowed by the almost instant disappearance of the entire brood, as if by magic. If on 

 the shore they disappear in the grass; if in the water, they dive, and that is generally 

 the last seen of them, for the time being at least, as they swim under water for great 

 distances xmtil reaching the edge of the stream or pond, when they imperceptibly 

 secrete themselves amon? the water moss or grass. I once watched a little fellow as 

 he made his way under the clear water. He went straight for a little bunch of float- 

 ing moss, and by gazing intently I could just distinguish the least possible little swelling 

 of the moss; a small hiunp, as it were, about the size of a marble. He had come to 

 the surface (as intended) under the patch of moss, and his head and bill were respon- 

 sible for the little hump in the moss. 



Possibly one thing more than anything else helps the little fellows to disappear 

 in such marvelously quick time and before you can realize it. The old duck 

 flutters and falls around you just out of yoiu- reach and most successfully imitates a 

 fowl badly winged, hardly able to rise from the ground. Her actions are bound to 

 more or less avert your attention for a moment at least, and it is just that moment 

 that the little fellows disappear, as the mother duck undoubtedly intended. After 

 a short time, when the little ones are all securely hidden, the mother, feeling no 

 further anxiety, gracefully recovers from her crippled condition, fiies off a few 

 hundred yards, and there awaits your departure, when she returns to her family, 

 who soon gather around her one by one till they are all assembled and everything 

 goes on as though nothing had happened — until the next intruder appears, when 

 " Presto! change! " and the same actions are repeated. 



Plumages. — The downy young of the cinnamon teal is " mummy 

 brown" above, darkest on the crown, and the tips of the down are 

 " buffy citrine," producing a golden olivaceous appearance on the 

 back; the forehead, the sides of the head, including a broad super- 

 ciliary stripe, and the under parts vary from " mustard yellow " 

 on the head to "amber yellow" on the breast and "naphthaline 

 yellow" on the belly; there is a narrow stripe of dark brown on the 

 side of the head; and the color of the back is relieved by a yellowish 

 spot on each side of the rump, scapular region, and edge of the wing. 



The first feathers appear on the scapulars and flanks; these are 

 brownish black, edged with " cinnamon brown." When the young 

 bird is about half grown the tail appears and the under parts become 

 feathered; the chest and flanks appear to be lustrous "Sanford's 

 brown" and the belly silvery whitish, both mottled with dusky, 

 each feather being centrally dusky. The bird is fully grown before 

 it is fully feathered, the down disappearing last on the hind neck 

 and rump; and the wings are the last to appear. A young bird 

 nearly two-thirds grown is only partially feathered on the head; 

 the back is wholly covered with glossy down, varying from " bister " 

 to "sepia" and darkest on the rump; and the wing quills have not 

 yet burst their sheaths. 



