go DUCKLINGS TO FLAPPERS. 
Learn a lesson, heedless ones! Or the brood will 
soon be depleted and few remain to tell the tale 
should you linger long in the vicinity of that ill-fated 
spot. 
They remain in the heavy grass, flags, rushes and 
weeds around water-holes, either where they were 
hatched or have been taken by the mother bird. Their 
food varies as they grow older; new seeds ripen, and 
the water having subsided has left all kinds of ani- 
malcules, old seeds, roots and muddy banks exposed. 
They gradually obtain a few feathers in the wings 
and tail, their downy body covering is replaced slowly 
by feathers, which, growing in tracts soon lap over 
and envelope their bodies, and they are able to make 
long excursions around the marshes and sloughs ad- 
jacent to their duckling home. Generally, only the 
duck remains in constant attention to the young brood 
until they pass the flapper state, which name they re- 
ceive when about half-grown; but when, owing to the 
wing feathers growing slowly, they are not yet able to 
fly. 
It can readily be supposed that during the flapper 
stage they instinctively learn to become adepts in hid- 
ing, a trait gained largely from the experience and 
teachings of their mother; for one who is unaccus- 
tomed to seeing them at this period of their develop- 
ment would hardly credit the skill and cunning they 
show in avoiding and threading their way out of dan- 
ger, and, to an inexperienced eye, hiding in almost 
impossible places. 
