

49 



when wounded and pursued is to hide. When there is no hiding 

 place on the surface, divers naturally seek concealment under 

 water. In their panic they may dive into the clinging vegeta- 

 tion near the bottom. The natural tendency of birds whenever 

 they find their progress obstructed or their heads or necks en- 

 meshed, is to push forward through any aperture that may 

 present itself, rather than to draw back. In withdrawing they 

 go "against the grain" of the feathers, and their wings or feet 

 are likely to become entangled, so they press strongly forward. 

 The poacher takes advantage of this habit and leaves apertures 

 in a hedge in which he puts snares for game birds. In pressing 

 forward to push through the snares they are strangled. Thus 

 also the diving bird, seeking concealment for the time being, 

 may become enmeshed or entangled under clinging aquatic 

 vegetation, and, being weakened by loss of blood or perhaps 

 dying from a gunshot wound, may be unable to work through 

 the entanglement and reach the surface, and so drowns, the 

 body remaining held fast where it lies. This may explain why 

 the diving ducks at Ithaca did not withdraw their heads from 

 the interstices of the wire netting, from which they might have 

 escaped. They may have drowned there while trying to push 

 through. 



