CHAP. vi.j MALLARDS. 127 



by seeing the bird in so unusual a place, I examined the tree, and 

 found that she had a nest built of sticks and grass, containing 

 six eggs, placed at the junction of the branches and the mai;i 

 stem. I do not know how she would have managed to get her 

 young ones safely out of it when hatched, for on carefully mea- 

 suring the height, I found that the nest was exactly fifteen feet 

 from the ground. 



As soon as hatched, the young ones take to the water, and it 

 is very amusing to see the activity and quickness which the little 

 fellows display in catching insects and Hies as they skim along 

 the surface of the water, led on by the parent biid, who takes 

 the greatest care of them, bustling about with all the hurry and 

 importance of a barn-yard hen. Presently she gives a low 

 \\arning quack, as a hawk or carrion crow passes in a suspicious 

 manner over them. One cry is enough, away all the little ones 

 dart into the rushes, screaming and fluttering, while the old bird, 

 with head Hat on the water and upturned eye, slowly follows them, 

 but not until she sees them all out of danger. After a short time, 

 if the enemy has disappeared, the old bird peers cautiously from 

 her covert, and if she makes up her mind that all is safe, she calls 

 forth her offspring again, to feed and sport in the open water. 



The young birds do not fly till they are quite full grown. 

 I have observed that, as soon as ever the inner side of the wing 

 is fully clothed, they take to flying ; their bones, which before 

 this time were more like gristle than anything else, quickly 

 hardening, and giving the bird full power and use of its pinions. 

 The old bird then leads them fortli at night to the most distant 

 feeding-places, either to the grass meadows where they search 

 for snails or worms, or to the splashy swamps, where they dabble 

 about all night, collecting the different insects and young frogs that 

 abound in these places. As the corn ripens, they fly to the oat- 

 fn.'lds in the dusk of the evening, preferring this grain and peas 

 to any other. They are now in good order and easily shot, as 

 they come regularly to the same fields every night. As soon as 

 they have satisfied their hunger, they go to some favourite pool, 

 where they drink and wash themselves. After this, they repair, 

 before dawn, to their resting-place for the day, generally some 

 large piece of water, where they can float quietly out of reach 

 of all danger. In October, the drakes have acquired their 



