MIXED CONGREGATIONS. 237 



or a wounded one, too weak to keep up with the 

 rest. Very often a mixed gathering of Ducks and 

 other water-fowl may be met with in the late 

 autumn days on some secluded pool where the 

 shy birds know they are safe from danger. By 

 parting the tall, breast-high rushes aside, and 

 peeping cautiously through them, you may often 

 watch the movements of these swimmers una- 

 wares, There are the shy Wigeon, easily identified 

 hundreds of yards across the water by their pale 

 yellow foreheads ; gaudy Mallards, in all the 

 splendour of their wedding-dress, float and paddle 

 side by side with Pochards and Tufted Ducks, 

 the former easily recognised by its dark chestnut 

 head and neck, and the latter by its handsome 

 crest. Charming little Teals swim round and 

 round, and in and out of the tufts of dead reeds ; 

 and now and then a Coot or a Moorhen joins 

 the party, and paddles away again as if unsatis- 

 fied with its welcome. Every few minutes the 

 Pochards and Tufted Ducks dive with marvellous 

 speed, disappearing under the water as if by 

 magic, then coming up again with pieces of water- 

 weed which they have pulled up from the bottom 

 of the lake. The Mallards and other non-diving 

 Ducks seek their food in the shallows, sifting the 

 fine mud, and poking and dabbling everywhere 

 round the shore. Ducks are sociable birds, and 

 never seem happy alone ; right through the 

 autumn and winter they live more or less in 

 flocks, feeding, flying, and sleeping in company. 



