THE MALLARD. J 99 



quest of food, though once or twice, in moist and 

 heavy weather, I have seen them waddle through 

 the pasture ; but I marked the fact down, as one of 

 rare occurrence. When undisturbed, they are seen 

 to pass much of their time asleep on the ground. 

 At intervals they will take to the water; and while 

 some float on it, with the head reclined on the 

 shoulder, others will sport and dive into the deep, 

 and then return to land, and there arrange and 

 preen their feathers, though not with oil from the 

 gland on the rump, as is generally supposed. At 

 the close of day they become exceedingly vociferous, 

 the voice of the female being much louder and more 

 frequent than that of the male; a circumstance too 

 notorious in the human species. After this uproar 

 of tongues has continued for a certain time, they 

 rise on rapid wing in detached flocks, and, to a bird, 

 they go away for the night. At early dawn they 

 return in companies, consisting of fifteen or twenty 

 birds, and stay here, to pass the day in peace and 

 quiet. When the water is frozen over, they some- 

 times huddle together on the ice, and at other times 

 collect in one large flock in the adjacent pasture. 

 Every now and then a peregrine falcon makes his 

 appearance, and perches on a neighbouring sycamore 

 tree. We know of his approach by the singular 

 agitation which takes place amongst the ducks ; they 

 shake their wings with a tremulous noise, and get 

 into a compact group. After this they all rise in 

 the air ; and then you may see the falcon dash at an 

 outside duck with an almost inconceivable velocity, 

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