DUCKS. 297 



gems which man puts in requisition to capture by 

 wholesale a bird so greatly prized. The principal 

 of these are the decoys, by which immense multi- 

 tudes are taken annually in the fenny counties of 

 England. An interesting account of these, ac- 

 companied with illustrative engravings, appeared 

 in the " Penny Magazine" for February, 1835. 

 We have not space to describe the details, but 

 some idea may be formed of their effectiveness, as 

 well as of the abundance of this species, from the 

 fact recorded by Pennant, that in one season 

 thirty- one thousand two hundred Ducks were 

 taken in only ten decoys in the neighbourhood of 

 Wainfleet, in Lincolnshire. 



The Mallard in a wild state, contrary to the 

 habit of the domestic bird, always pairs : the 

 Duck makes her nest in some dry spot in the 

 marshes, often, sheltered by rank herbage, or be- 

 neath some low bush ; not seldom, however, the 

 nest is built in the branches of a tree, or the head 

 of a pollard,., often at a considerable height from 

 the ground ; whence the parent is believed to carry 

 down her young ones, one by one, in her beak. 

 The eggs are usually from ten to fourteen in 

 number, of a bluish white hue ; when the Duck 

 has occasion to leave them, she covers them care- 

 fully with down or other materials. 



The Wild Duck is migratory as well as resident 

 with us ; those that have bred in this country are 

 reinforced on the approach of winter by immense 

 flocks of this and other species, which wing their 

 way hither from the already frozen lakes and 

 rivers of the more northern latitudes, whither 

 the majority return in spring. 



