THE WILD DUCK. 499 



Wild Ducks hold a prominent place among birds of the 

 most extensive distribution, being "indigenous to the 

 greater part of the northern hemisphere."* In consequence 

 of this wide range they must of necessity frequent many 

 districts highly favourable to their preservation ; they are 

 therefore numerous. Equally well adapted for travelling 

 by sea and through the air, and capable of enduring great 

 variations of heat and cold, their presence may be expected 

 wherever a tract of country occurs calculated to supply them 

 with food and opportunities for nidification. As long as 

 England abounded in marshes, and her rivers ran through 

 wastes rarely frequented by man, Wild Ducks were 

 numerous in many counties where they are now but rarely 

 seen. Many have retired before draining and civilization, 

 yet they never totally desert us. In most districts where 

 there are rivers lined with reeds, even not so very far 

 removed from the sound of the steam-engine, one may, by 

 cautiously and quietly guiding one's steps, fall in with a 

 brood of active ducklings sifting the ooze, with the instinct 

 of their kind, for minute insects ; flapping along the water 

 in chase of a fly, or paddling among the reeds on the 

 look-out for anything good to eat. The matron of the 

 party, with a proud consciousness of her dignity as 

 sentinel and protector, preserves a more stately demeanour, 

 but, with this slight difference, is similarly occupied. As 

 you approach she is the first to descry you ; with a homely 

 "quack," differing in no respect from the note of the 

 domesticated bird, she sounds an alarm, and the whole 

 family, mother and children, are quickly concealed among 

 the reeds. It is possible, by long-continued persecution, 

 to induce her to rise, but she does so reluctantly, and even 

 then, unless you are such a barbarian as to shoot her, all 

 is yet safe. The young will hide themselves securely 

 until danger is past, and she, not far off, though un- 

 seen, is circling round her helpless brood. In an islet, 



* Yarrell, vol. iii. p. 273. 

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