THE WILD DUCK 315 



waters. You may flush him from the little rush-fringed pools 

 on the heathy commons, or amongst the open spaces near the 

 borders of the grand old forests. While yet again, the sluices, 

 dykes, and drains near the low coasts, and the mudflats laid 

 bare by the receding tide, are also his favourite haunts accord- 

 ing to the season of the year. 



Many Wild Ducks are resident on our shores, but their 

 numbers are considerably increased soon after the autumnal 

 equinox. Shy, indeed, and wariness personified, is this hand- 

 some bird, and it is only by exercising the greatest caution 

 that you are enabled to observe its varied movements on the 

 land and water. Here, for instance, is a secluded lake, on 

 which the Wild Ducks are engaged in feeding or dozing away 

 the few short sunny hours of this December morning. Thanks 

 to the clumps of hollies and the tall withered reeds and flags, 

 we are enabled to approach the birds closely as they float all 

 unconscious of our presence on the shallows. Silent birds 

 they are, and the lap, lap of the waves against the boat house, 

 and the rustling of the dead rushes in the breeze, are the only 

 sounds that break an almost oppressive stillness. What an 

 interesting and animating scene though ! On a mass of 

 floating reeds a few yards from shore a fine old drake is 

 seated, preening his charming dress, which glows with pristine 

 beauty in the sun. On the water close by, the duck is floating 

 listlessly and quite ignorant of our presence. Several other 

 birds are paddling about a little distance farther on, swimming 

 here and there, or rocking motionless on the tiny waves. In 

 the shallows, where the cattle come to drink, are a few 

 more ducks and drakes, sifting the soft mud at the bottom of 

 the water, or swimming out from shore to turn upside down, 

 their tails only visible above the surface. But the birds do 

 not feed much now ; they are most active at dusk and during 

 the night. Suddenly one of the drakes darts towards a rival ; 

 a chase begins both on and under the surface of the water ; 



