68 YOUNG DUCKS ON THE POND 



south side, and should any person appear on the north 

 side of the pond the ducks immediately take fright and 

 flight. Wheat was strewn on the ground and in the wa- 

 ter, and the ducks waddled around us within a few 

 inches of our feet, paying not the least attention to us 

 or to the old house dog which walked near. 



"Six miles east of the ranch is San Luis Lake, to 

 which these ducks travel almost daily while the lake is 

 open. When they are at the lake it is impossible to ap- 

 proach within gunshot of the then timid birds. Some 

 unsympathetic boys and men have learned the habits of 

 the birds and place themselves in hiding along the course 

 of flight to and from the lake. Many ducks are shot in 

 this way, but woe to the person caught firing a gun near 

 the home pond. When away from home the birds are as 

 wild as other wild ducks and fail to recognize any mem- 

 bers of the Gray family, while at home they follow the 

 boys around the barnyard, squawking for food like so 

 many tame ducks. 



"This is the greatest sight I have ever witnessed and 

 one that I could not believe existed until I had seen it. 

 Certainly it is worth traveling many miles to see." 



The following accounts of wild ducks in Florida and 

 elsewhere, with the remarkable picture of ducks at Lake 

 Worth, which was sent to me by Dr. Dutcher, the dis- 

 tinguished President of the National Association of 

 Audubon Societies, also illustrates this peculiarity of 

 wild ducks. 



The picture was published by the Association in an 

 educational leaflet and Mr. Forbush, who wrote it, says : 

 "At Titusville, Florida, where no shooting is allowed 

 near the hotel or wharves, the wild ducks from the river 



