114 FRANK forester's FIELD SPORTS. 



length, one inch and five-eighths in breadth, shaped like those 

 of a domestic fowl, with a smooth surface, and of a uniform 

 yellowish-white color, like that of ivory tarnished by long ex- 

 posure. The young, like those of the Mallard, acquire the full 

 beauty of their spring plumage before the season of reproduction 

 commences, but exhibit none of the curious changes which that 

 species undergo. 



" Although the Dusky Duck is often seen on salt water bays 

 or inlets, it resembles the Mallard in its habits, being fond of 

 swampy marshes, rice fields, and the shady margins of our riv- 

 ers, during the whole of its stay in such portions of the Southern 

 Stales as it is known to breed in. They are equally voracious, 

 and may sometimes be seen with their crops so protruded as to 

 destroy the natural elegance of their form. When on the water, 

 they obtain their food by immersing their head and neck in the 

 water, and, like the Mallard, sift the produce of muddy pools. 

 Like that species also, they will descend in a spiral manner from 

 on high, to alight under an oak or a beech, where they have dis- 

 covered the mast to be abundant. 



" The flight of this Duck is powerful, rapid, and as sustained 

 as that of the Mallard. While travelling by day, they may be 

 distinguished from that species by the whiteness of their lower 

 wing-coverts, which form a strong contrast to the deep tints of 

 the rest of the plumage. Their progress through the air, when 

 at full speed, must, I think, be at the rate of more than a mile 

 in a minute, or about seventy miles an hour. When about to 

 alight, they descend with double rapidity, causing a strong, 

 rustling sound by the weight of their compact bodies and the 

 rapid movements of their pointed wings. When alarmed by a 

 shot or otherwise, they rise off" their feet by a powerful single 

 spring, fly directly upwards for eight or ten yards, and then pro- 

 ceed in a straight line. 



" The Black Ducks generally appear in the Sound of Long 

 Island in September or October, but, in very cold weather, pro- 

 ceed Southward ; while those which breed in Texas, as I have 

 been informed, remain there all the year. At their arrival they 



