268 Birds Every Child Should Know 



sportsmen in the fall, can be kept on a farm 

 perfectly contented all winter; but when the 

 honking flocks return from the south in March 

 or April, they rarely resist '* the call of the wild," 

 and away they go toward their kin and freedom. 



WILD DUCKS 



Birds that spend their summers for the most 

 part north of the United States and travel past 

 us faster than the fastest automobile racer or 

 locomotive — and an hundred miles an hour is 

 not an uncommon speed for ducks to fly — need 

 have little to fear, you might suppose. But so 

 mercilessly are they hunted whenever they stop 

 to rest, that few birds are more timid. 



River and pond ducks, that have the most 

 delicious flavour because they feed on wild rice, 

 celery and other dainty fare, frequent sluggish 

 streams and shallow ponds. There they tip 

 up their bodies in a funny way to probe about 

 the muddy bottoms, their heads stuck down 

 under water, their tails and flat, webbed feet 

 in the air directly above them, just as you have 

 seen barnyard ducks stand on their heads. 

 They like to dabble along the shores, too, and 

 draw out roots, worms, seeds and tiny shellfish 

 imbedded in the banks. Of course they get a 

 good deal of mud in their mouths, but fortun- 



