190 RIVER AND POND DUCKS 



Black Ducks, Mallards, and other Anatince. The male is a striking 

 bird in life, and can not be mistaken for any other species. 



The SMEW (131.1 Mergellus albellus), an Old World species, has been once 

 recorded from the Hudson Bay region. (Salvadori, Cat. B. M., XXVII, 



468.) 



Subfamily Anatince. River and Pond Ducks. (Fig. 34a.) 



The Ducks of this subfamily are distinguished by the absence of a 

 lobe on the hind-toe. They are, for the most part, northern breeding 

 birds, and appear on our waters chiefly as migrants. At this time, they 

 differ but little in habits, and, as a rule, frequent sluggish streams, shal- 

 low ponds, arms of bays, and marshes. In comparison with the deep- 

 water Fuligulince, they might be called 'dabblers' or 'tip-ups/ and 

 any one who has seen them dabbling along the shore, or with upturned 

 tail and head immersed, probing the bottom in shallow water, like a 

 flock of animated tenpins, will recognize the appropriateness of these 

 terms. They dive but little and when under water are said to use both 

 feet and wings. They feed upon mollusks, crustaceans, insects and their 

 larvae, the seeds and roots of aquatic plants. The 'gutters' on the sides 

 of the bill act as strainers, and, after probing the bottom, the mere act 

 of closing the bill forces out the mud and water taken in with the food. 

 As a rule, they feed more commonly by night than by day. They do 

 not gather in such large flocks as the Sea Ducks, and in our waters are 

 generally found in groups of less than fifty. They spring from the water 

 at a bound, and on whistling wing are soon beyond the fowler's reach. 

 Their highest speed is variously estimated, for different species, at 

 from one hundred to one hundred and sixty miles an hour. Doubtless 

 the first-named distance is nearer the truth. 



All our Anatince, but the Wood Duck, nest on the ground, lining 

 a slight hollow with grasses, leaves, moss or rootlets, and with more or 

 less down from the breast of the incubating bird, which is used to cover 

 the eggs, doubtless for purposes of warmth, as well as concealment, 

 during the absence of the sitter. The nesting-site is usually near water, 

 but may be half a mile or more from the shore, and is sometimes in 

 grass so scanty that the sitting bird may be plainly seen, but as a rule 

 it is in denser vegetation or under bushes. 



The generally greenish, cream, or buff eggs, number from six to 

 fourteen or rarely more, and hatch within a surprisingly short time of 

 one another. Incubation is performed by the female alone. She sits 

 close and springs from the nest at one's feet in a most disconcerting 

 manner, to flutter off through the grass or, with halting flight, make for 

 the water, there to alight with much show of anxiety. The young are in 

 the highest degree prsecocial, leaving the nest almost as soon as they 

 leave the egg, and under the guidance of their mother, at once taking to 

 water. Few birds show more concern for the safety of their offspring 

 than do Wild Ducks. When danger threatens, the young, evidently 



