THE WOOD DUCK 323 



seldom unite in any large flocks, the number 

 generally ranging from ten to twelve in a bunch, 

 the little party commonly consisting of one fam- 

 ily. Our little bird is rather exclusive; know- 

 ing his high position in waterfowl society he 

 will seldom travel with any other species and 

 rarely notices decoys. 



They are not so hardy and '^ hard-lived" 

 as most of the ducks, but when ''wing-tipped" 

 are most difficult to capture, especially in the 

 brushy streams, diving and making their way 

 under water to the shore, then running stealth- 

 ily away, — like the black duck, often hiding in 

 holes in the ground or crawling into brush- 

 heaps, — so that unless a dog is on their track 

 they will commonly escape. 



The flesh of this bird is the tenderest and 

 sweetest of any of the duck family, and they are 

 usually extremely fat in the fall after their sum- 

 mer's diet of frogs, snails, grains and the ten- 

 der shoots of the water plants. 



It is rarely that a Wood Duck is taken on the 

 salt water, though often visiting the fresh ponds 

 on the seashore. In one place which has more 

 Wood Ducks to its credit than any other in our 

 neighborhood the pond in which they are shot is 



