THE MALLARD. 199 
quest of food, though once or twice, in moist and 
heavy weather, I have seen them waddle through 
the pasture; but I marked the fact down, as one of 
rare occurrence. When undisturbed, they are seen 
to pass much of their time asleep on the ground. 
At intervals they will take to the water; and while 
some float on it, with the head reclined on the 
shoulder, others will sport and dive into the deep, 
and then return to land, and there arrange and 
preen their feathers, though not with oil from the 
gland on the rump, as is generally supposed. At 
the close of day they become exceedingly vociferous, 
the voice of the female being much louder and more 
frequent than that of the male; a circumstance too 
notorious in the human species. After this uproar 
of tongues has continued for a certain time, they 
rise on rapid wing in detached flocks, and, to a bird, 
they go away for the night. At early dawn they 
return in companies, consisting of fifteen or twenty 
birds, and stay here, to pass the day in peace and 
quiet. When the water is frozen over, they some- 
times huddle together on the ice, and at other times 
collect in one large flock in the adjacent pasture. 
Every now and then a peregrine falcon makes his 
appearance, and perches on a neighbouring sycamore 
tree. We know of his approach by the singular 
agitation which takes place amongst the ducks ; they 
shake their wings with a tremulous noise, and get 
into a compact group. After this they all rise in 
the air; and then you may see the falcon dash at an 
outside duck with an almost inconceivable velocity. 
o 4 
