JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



25 



article of food with her in these first 

 days of captivity, and a shelled acorn 

 now and then served well for dessert. 

 It was months before she would attempt 

 any of the hard, smooth varieties of 

 corn . 



Much of my spare time was devoted 

 to making her acquaintance. At first 

 when I approached the cage she would 

 plunge into her water basin as if she 

 expected to find it affording some degree 

 of safety, but gradually she began to 

 recognize me and before a week was 

 gone she would reach out between the 

 slats to pick kernels of sweet corn from 

 between my lips. About this time I 

 must have carelessly left the cage door 

 unbuttoned, for one day Avhen I went to 

 visit her, I was surprised to find the 

 door open and my bird missing". The 

 food I was carrying I laid down on the 

 bench by the cage and immediately be- 

 gan a search that ended only after I had 

 carefully hunted through the yard, the 

 garden, the pasture between our house 

 and the lake, and had even cruised up 

 and down the shore in my boat, but not 

 a single duck's feather did I find. 



Sponsa's cage had been placed in the 

 carriage room of our stable, and the big 

 sliding door was always wide open. 

 When my pet had been missing two 

 days and I had abandoned all hope of 

 ever seeing her again. I thought I would 

 improve a spare moment by putting 

 away the cage, but upon going to it 

 what was my surprise to notice that the 

 food I had left beside it had disappeared 

 and around it were unmistakable signs 

 that Si)Onsa or some other duck had 

 been there within a few minutes. My 

 father had been drying a lot of bean 

 vines in the carriage-house, and thinking 

 she might be concealed among them, I 

 closed the door and began pitching them 



over. I had worked but a few minutes 

 when out she fluttered. After this she 

 was transferred to the hen house, a 

 change much to her liking. Her rela- 

 tions with the hens were always friendly 

 but between her and a pair of Canada 

 Jays, which that winter shared the same 

 quarters, it was not so. They were in- 

 clined to domineer over her and I am 

 sorry to say, she was afraid of them. 

 However, one day she turned the tables 

 on them much to ni}' amusement, and 

 ever after commanded their respect and 

 mine. It happened in this way : 8ponsa 

 had approached to the drinking dish 

 when one of the Jays flew plump into 

 her face causing her, as usual, to beat a 

 hasty retreat, but she did not accept 

 such treatment with her wonted meek- 

 ness this time, for when the intruder, 

 balancing himself on the edge of the 

 pan, dipped his bill into the water, she 

 seized the opportunity and his tail at 

 the same time, snapping her flat bill like 

 a pair of pincers on to the long feathers 

 and bracing herself, hung on like grim 

 death, while the astonished Jay fluttered 

 and scolded and only got away at last 

 by sacrificing a good part of his caudal 

 appendage. 



In February Sponsa began to show 

 the first changes in plumage ; a little 

 crest had started on her head ; a whitish 

 line was becoming discernible extending 

 from the eye back under the crest, and 

 the tips of the primaries which she was 

 so fond of elevating an inch or two 

 when startled, had taken on the silvery 

 white of the adult bird. At first the 

 only sounds I ever heard her make was 

 a serpent-like "hiss" which she uttered 

 whenever frightened or provoked, but 

 now she could greet me with quite a dis- 

 tinguishable "quack." Sponsa was 

 very susceptable to cold and frequently 



