THE MALLARD 219 



family to seek the water; and that is very early, for the 

 young ducks, who break their prison walls themselves, will 

 run out of the nest directly they are hatched, if disturbed, 

 though sometimes they will pretend not to see the in- 

 truder. Before the exodus to the water, the hen carries 

 off the old shells. Sometimes the drake assists in this 

 exodus to the water ; he and his wife directing the young, 

 walking ahead through rush and gladen, across lonely dikes 

 and over lonely walls to the reed-beds growing in the shal- 

 lows. But after that he is off with other husbands on the 

 moult, and the wife does the education down there in the 

 water, teaching them to catch flies and midges. But they 

 never swim far from the duck, the twelve or thirteen fluffy 

 balls keeping close to her, and diving like stones if startled. 

 Tame drakes will kill ducklings hatched off under hens; 

 this infatuated tendency, perhaps, drives him a-roving to 

 prevent crime. However, he evidently doesn't love his 

 offspring. 



Wild duck are persistent layers; if robbed early in the 

 season, they will lay again even unto two clutches. 



When the broad is white with lilies in July, and the 

 young have grown nearly as large as their mothers, they 

 attempt to fly, and once more the drake condescends to 

 return to his family ; for the fenmen, with their long muzzle- 

 loaders, will soon be on their track. 



As soon as the young flappers are strong on the wing, 

 at the end of July, the morning and evening flighting begins, 

 the family flying from one yard to one hundred above 

 the marshes, according to the weather, flying high in clear 

 weather and low on muggy days, where they feed and sleep 

 by day, and returning to the broads at nightfall, when you 

 may hear them feeding in the reeds, and especially on 

 moonlit nights, when they shriek and quack and enjoy 

 themselves immensely. The wily trapper knows the hours 

 between seven and nine at night to be the best for his 

 work. Now that the flappers have grown stronger on 



