56 INSTINCT VERSUS REASON. 
from a greater distance the approach of danger, 
wherefrom in clanging notes they apprise the feeding 
flocks of coming foes, should not ducks become more 
educated, enlightened and better able to shun and es- 
cape lurking danger, the rudiments and _ practical 
knowledge of which, driven into the minds and brains 
of their ancestors, are inculcated in their own brains; 
keeping in view the fact that some ducks, like various 
animals, are more sagacious and wary than others? 
Will they not shy from the report of a gun, from a 
flash of fire before sunrise or after sundown? From a 
sudden movement in some innocent-looking blind? 
From the glitter of a gun barrel glancing in the bright 
sunlight, or from a flock of motionless decoys, having 
learned from bitter experience that danger lurks 
therein? Is it not possible that wounded birds can 
make their grievances plainly known to their more 
fortunate companions, who, scared but not hurt, al- 
though possibly scratched, escaped from the spot to 
which they had been decoyed and where their un- 
lucky companions were injured? If ducks could not 
discriminate between decoys and natural birds, and 
recognize them to be shams and frauds, why do deal- 
ers vie with each other to make them more natural, 
even to perfect coloration? 
A wounded diver darts below the surface and pro- 
pelled by its feet glides away close to the bottom. A 
wounded non-diver flutters out upon the water, or 
sinks below the surface, where it quickly conceals its 
bill, whilst obtaining air, under a tuft of weeds or a 
lily pad. A quail or plover flutters in the path before 
you, or a warbler flits from spray to spray, each en- 
deavoring to lead your footsteps far from her nest. 
