110 BIRDS OF THE WEST 



Oh I fear that great beauty too often has its drawbacks. 

 The theory of compensation is at work all the while. 



MALLARD. 



Probably of all ducks the mallard is the most popular in this 

 western section of the country. This is due in part to its size 

 and in part to the fact that it is just as finely flavored as any 

 of them. You get a little more of a good thing when you get a 

 mallard. The same ducks in different sections of the country have 

 different food values for few if any creatures are more "What 

 they eat" than are ducks. A celery-fed duck becomes almost 

 worthless when it feeds on fish. 



Our common barnyard duck is a domesticated mallard and 

 domestication has made him a mormon for it is not believed that 

 in the wild state they mate for less than life. 



As with most ducks the male has little to do with rearing 

 the young. The female gathers leaves, grass and the like, for 

 a nest, lines it with down from her own breast and leaves it only 

 at short intervals during the breeding season. The drake mean- 

 while follows a duck habit and goes into seclusion for a moult 

 and it is said that for a while he is not able to fly at all. 



They migrate by sexes, the males preceding the females who 

 follow with their broods. Foxy sportsmen often pride themselves 

 on the fact that they shoot only males which is often true dur- 

 ing the male migration. 



The ponds of the interior are fine feeding grounds for them 

 and they may often be seen tipping up but rarely if ever diving 

 for buds, seeds, grains and small mollusks. If you see them dive 

 you may be quite sure that they are trying to avoid danger- 



They are very fond of the farmer's corn but the farmer 

 seems never to care. He has his gun loaded for the hawks and 

 owls that are doing him far greater service and far less damage. 

 Of course the mallard's fondness for the farmer's corn is all in 

 favor of fine flesh and you may be sure that a corn-fed mallard 

 is a luxury. 



Mallards are sportive, alert and wary, so much so that they 

 do not descend at once to the water as the teals do but circle 

 about over the sedges to be sure that there is no lurking danger. 



