15G ■ OUR DOMESTIC FOWLS. 



approximating to that of tlie female ;* nor is 

 it until the autumnal moult, that he recovers 

 his brilliant tints and fine pencilling. In 

 domestic birds, this change does not occur, or 

 only very partially. 



The nest of the wild duck is composed of 

 dried rushes, grass, and coarse stalks, and is 

 usually placed on the ground under the covert 

 of brushwood, or amidst a bower of sheltering 

 herbage, not at any great distance from the 

 water. Occasionally, however, other sites 

 have been selected. 



"When her nest is approached, the wild duck, 

 like the lapwing, puts various artifices in 

 practice in order to draw off the intruder : she 

 flutters along as if lamed, pretends to escape 

 seizure with difficulty, when having succeeded 

 in her object, she rapidly leaves her astonished 

 pursuer. On quitting her nest, during incu- 

 bation, for a supply of food and water, she 

 usually covers the eggs with down and dry 

 herbage, no doubt in order to conceal them 

 from observation, and, perhaps, also to pre- 

 serve their temperature. They vary from ten 



• I\rr. Selhy regards it as an actual change of colour in 

 the feathers, and not the result of a change of plumage cr 

 moult. 



