|Ci(.vi'. X, 

 49 i'AH\. ;^n 



PVom wliat, has been said abovo about surface and 

 deep water feeding it is obvious that the deptli of tlie 

 water at different times has a great influence on the 

 choice of the habitat of ducks. Wigeon, it has been 

 noticed, are "commoner in a dry year." vStuart-Baker's 

 explanation is a simple (me. " In very wet seasons the 

 lakes, jhii«, ponds, etc., all overflow their normal limits, 

 and thus tlie edges of the shallow water cover ground on 

 which no water weeds grow and on which the natural dry 

 ground vegetation has been killed by the water. On the 

 otlier hand, in dry seasons, the water recedes and much 

 jhil vegetation which, under ordinary circumstance, would 

 be in a few feet of water is within a few inches of the 

 top and well within the grasp of the Teal {sic) as io 

 feeds with only its tail end out of the water." 



Detailed remarks on the individual species will be 

 found below, but that oddity, the Shoveller, needs special 

 mention here. He is equipped witli a great spatula-shaped 

 bill, on both chaps of wliicli are a sifting-apparatus which 

 leaves his captures of tiny animal life in while the water 

 passes out. He is a poor diver, owing to the small size 

 of his feet, and it is not his habit to go heads-down, tails- 

 up in search for food. But he is a tactician and he beneflts 

 by the work of others, swimming round in circles above 

 the place where the Diving Ducks are feeding below and 

 taking the food that escapes them and comes to the sur- 

 face. 



NOTES OX INDIVIDUAL SPECIES. 



Spoi bill.— They are principally vegetable-feeders, and 

 do a good deal of damage to rice, mys Stiiart-B>k.er, both 

 when young and in the ear, trampling down a great deal 

 more than they eat ; they also, at times, eat all sorts of 

 miscellaneous food, such as water molluscs, frogs, worms, 

 insects, etc. Woods observes that the places where they 

 feed can generally be detected at a glance from the state of 

 the much-trampled blades of rice and numerous feathers 

 lying about. He says that he has good sport by conceal- 

 ing liimself in such places on bright moonlight nights 

 and shooting the birds as they fly over. 



Mallard.—SeeLU of Graminenc and other plants, says 

 Mucgillivrny, fleshy and fibrous roo's, worms, molluscs, 

 insects, small reptiles and fishes, are the principal objects 

 of its search. In shallow water it reaches the bottom 

 with its bill, keeping the hind part of the body erect by a 

 continual motion of the feet. When searching under the 

 surface, it keeps the tail flat on the water, and, when 

 paddling at the bottom, with its hind part up, it directs 

 the tail backwards. 



