308 NATATORES. ANAS. WILD DUCK. 



in a state of domestication they are observed to be polyga- 

 mous. This pairing takes place towards the end of Fe- 

 bruary or beginning of March, and they continue associated 

 till the female begins to sit, when the male deserts her, join- 

 ing others of his own sex similarly situated ; so that it is 

 usual to see the Mallards, after May, in small flocks by 

 themselves. About this time also they begin to undergo 

 the changes of colour that assimilate them in a great degree 

 to the female, and which is retained till the period of the 

 autumnal or general moult. The care of the young thus 

 devolves entirely upon the Duck, and is not partaken by the 

 male, as WILSON and others appear to think ; and this fact 

 I have had frequent opportunities of verifying, as many 

 Wild Ducks annually breed upon the edges of our Northum- 

 brian moors, and the young broods are of course frequently 

 under inspection as they descend the rivulets to the lower 

 Nest, &c. marshy parts of the country, The nest of the Wild Duck 

 is generally made in some dry spot of the marshes, and not 

 far from water, to which she can lead her progeny as soon 

 as hatched. It is composed of withered grass, and other 

 dry vegetable matter, and usually concealed from view by a 

 thick bush, or some very rank herbage; though other and 

 very dissimilar situations are occasionally chosen, as several 

 instances have been recorded where they have deposited 

 their eggs on the fork of a large tree, or in some deserted 

 nest. Such an instance once occurred within my knowledge, 

 and near my own residence, where a Wild Duck laid her 

 eggs in the old nest of a crow, at least thirty feet from the 

 ground. At this elevation she hatched her young ; and, as 

 none of them were found dead beneath the tree, it is pre- 

 sumed she carried them safely to the ground in her bill, a 

 mode of conveyance known to be frequently adopted by the 

 Eider Duck. When disturbed with her young brood, the 

 Wild Duck has recourse to various devices to draw on her- 

 self the attention of the intruder, such as counterfeiting 

 lameness, &c. which manoeuvres are generally successful; and 



