THE MALLARD. 583 
they can content themselves with a little six by eight puddle, when the whole 
world lies before them. 
While on the water the birds spend much time “tipping” for food. Heads 
under water and tails pointing skyward, they search the bottom for molluscs 
and crustaceans, or feed upon various kinds of aquatic plants, which choke 
sluggish streams or line the edges of ponds. When hunger is satisfied they 
frequently disport themselves upon the water, diving, throwing water over 
their backs, and splashing about with great ado, much like boys in the old 
swimming hole. Nights, especially in thickly settled regions, are habitually 
spent feeding, either by dabbling, or in long forays to stubble-fields, and woods 
where acorns abound, so that much of the daytime is spent sleeping just on 
shore, with one leg drawn up and the head tucked comfortably under the wing. 
Upon being surprised the Ducks rise with a great outcry, in which the female 
voice is recognized as being a little the loudest, and they make off with rapid 
strong wing-strokes, which can carry them, it is believed, a hundred miles 
an hour. 
It is diffi- 
cult, owing 
(do) KS (NS 
treme caution 
displayed by 
the parent 
birds, to esti- 
Mmiaite: st Iie 
ial Gul inal |0) © 3h 
breeding at 
present in our 
state.  Cer- 
tainly it bears 
no compari- 
son with 
those to be 
Taken near Sandusky. Photo by the Author. 
ser fty VIEW LOOKING WEST FROM THE NEW LAKE BIOLOGICAL 
observed fi S LABORATORY. 
years ago, (Under the auspices of the Ohio State University.) 
MANY SPECIES OF DUCKS USED TO NEST HERE. 
bute as) cer 
tainly, Mallards do breed with us still, and in unexpected localities. A swift- 
winged female crossing a principal street in Oberlin on a June evening, gave 
me a momentary sense of the existence of an underworld, whose craft and 
cunning are hidden from the eyes of men. 
The Mallards mate in March or early April, the female depositing her 
eges in some grass-lined depression of a low-lying meadow, or at the edge 
of the woods, never far from water, but seldom at the water’s edge, as is the 
habit of some. With the completion of the set, the male proceeds into volun- 
