130 THE DUSKY DUCK. 



cold. As the morning light became clear, I could see a pair 

 of Mallards in the crowd; the rest were all Dusky Ducks. 

 None, however, were near enough for a shot; and as the 

 light intensified, and my screen was noted as a new addition 

 to the landscape, on a slight squaking signal by one es- 

 pecially on the alert, they all left with a rush. 



On the 22d of last September I was at Lake Ontario. 

 The Dusky Ducks were there in immense numbers. Through 

 the glass I could see a flock of several hundreds a few miles 

 out from the shore. They sat on the water, as the hunters 

 say, in great windrows. The lake was smooth, but there 

 was a gentle, undulating motion of the water; and the 

 whole flock, with here and there a sentinel on the alert, 

 were resting with their bills under their scapulars, as if 

 asleep. The glass was powerful, bringing the birds imme- 

 diately before me; and the sight was as serenely happy as 

 one could wish to see in the varied and delightful domain 

 of nature. Presently one of the crowd yawned and 

 stretched itself upright, and flapped its wings joyously on 

 the water, and all followed the example, making a great 

 fluttering cloud of darkness on the gleaming surface. Now 

 they began to shoot about among each other in a most 

 hurried manner, as regularly, however, as men and women 

 would cut figures in a dance, and thus making one of the 

 most spirited and gleeful impressions. Then they would 

 all quiet down again, and ride gracefully on the gently 

 moving waters, their heads drawn closely on their breasts, 

 as if in the most complete repose. 



Like the Mallard, the Dusky Duck feeds on small mol- 

 lusks, roots, and grain, and will not disdain a lizard or a 

 mouse; and, like the Mallard, it is particularly a fresh- water 

 Duck, though it is not infrequently found about the borders 

 of the ocean. 



