lOO DUCK SHOOTING. 



approach. They usually refuse to notice decoys, and, 

 owing to their keen senses and constant watchfulness, 

 are not shot in great numbers. The gunners believe 

 that their sense of smell is very keen, and will not at- 

 tempt to approach them down the wind, believing that 

 the ducks will smell them. 



The black duck rises from the water in the same 

 manner as the mallard and its note is not to be dis- 

 tinguished from the mallard's. In the Southern States, 

 where they feed chiefly on grasses and rice and wild 

 celery, they are very delicious, but on the New Eng- 

 land coast they are sometimes found to be very inferior 

 table birds. 



In the South the black ducks often congregate in 

 flocks of several hundred, resorting especially to lit- 

 tle flag ponds in the marshes which they especially af- 

 fect. Here they appear to have lost much of the sus- 

 piciousness which they show further north and often 

 come readily to decoys, responding as easily as the mal- 

 lard to the quacking of duck, man or duck call. 



More than almost any of its relatives the black duck 

 seems to be a night feeder, and all night long its cries 

 may be heard through the marsh ; yet it is, of course, 

 well known that all ducks feed at night, especially when 

 there is a moon, and the very common belief that the 

 black duck does this more than others may be without 

 foundation. 



The black duck is frequently domesticated and does 

 well in confinement, and it readily interbreeds with 

 the mallard, either the wild or the domestic. Domesti- 



