DUSKY DUCK. 223 



Though the black duck is not, strictly speaking, 

 a Western fowl, yet it is quite frequently found 

 there in company with mallards, and is generally 

 known amongst Western sporting-men by the 

 name of the black mallard. This is a mistaken 

 idea ; it is a separate and distinct species. 



In certain parts of the Eastern States they are, 

 in the proper season, very numerous, being, in 

 fact, to that part of the country what the mallards 

 are to the Western States, more numerous than 

 any other shoal-water ducks, and most eagerly 

 pursued by sportsmen. They are exceedingly 

 wary, and take alarm at the slightest noise, spring- 

 ing at once perpendicularly into the air, often to 

 a height of twenty feet, when they take a direct 

 course at great speed. Their habits in the West 

 are almost identical with those of the mallard, 

 and their food the same. 



