164 



RIVER AND POND DUCKS 



IN FLIGHT. Swift and direct, usually high in 

 the air, with long necks outstretched; generally in 

 small flocks of not more than a dozen birds in 

 V-shaped formation or long, single, sloping line. 

 They are easily recognized by their large, very dark 

 bodies in combination with the silvery sheen of the 

 underwing surface. They alight on the water with 

 a gentle gliding splash and, when taking flight, 

 spring vertically upward for 8 or 10 feet before 

 leveling off. 



VOICE. The female has a loud resonant quack, 

 like that of the Mallard; the male, a low, reedy, 

 short quek. Like the Mallard, the female is noisy, and 

 the voices of the two species are practically identical. 



LIFE STORY 



The splendid Black Duck, which is the equal of the Mallard in every 

 respect except beauty, is confined in its range to the eastern and central 

 portions of North America, in most of which it far outnumbers all other 

 species of fresh-water ducks. Were is not for the abundance of this 

 species, the gunners of the East would fare badly, as that part of the 

 continent lacks the great diversity of wild fowl found in the West. In 

 spite of being heavily shot at, the Black remains plentiful and the sad 

 tale that can be told regarding the diminution of the erstwhile numbers 

 of many other species does not apply in the case of the Black. 



The Black Duck is the most sagacious, wary, and wildest of all 

 ducks, and even in captivity it retains its shyness and distrust of man. 

 When the shooting season commences the locally bred young birds are 

 not difficult to take but even they soon learn their lesson and become as 

 wild as the wildest. They are distrustful of decoys and their keen eyes 

 soon detect the slightest movement of the hunter behind the blind; the 

 gunner must exercise every caution to be successful. The meat of the 

 Black Duck ranks just as highly as that of the Mallard. 



"The Black Duck starts into flight, from land or water, by a power- 

 ful upward spring, rising perpendicularly 8 to 10 feet into the air be- 

 fore it starts away in its swift and direct flight. When once under way 

 its flight is strong and swift, usually high in the air, unless forced by 

 strong adverse winds to fly low; its long neck is outstretched and its 



wings vibrate rapidly, the white un- 

 derside of the wings flashing in the 

 light and serving as a good field mark 

 at a long distance. When descending 

 from a height to alight in a pond the 

 pointed wings are curved downward 

 and rigidly held, as the smooth body 



