WILD DUCKS. 233 



back of the Drake begin to change colour; in a few days the 

 curled feathers of the tail drop out, and grey feathers begin to 

 appear in the lovely green plumage round the eyes ; and, by the 

 28rd of June, scarcely one green feather remains. By the 6th of 

 July all the green feathers have disappeared, and the male has 

 assumed the female garb, but darker in colour. In August this new 

 plumage begins to drop off, and by the middle of October the Drake 

 again reappears in all the rich magnificence of its former dress. 



The Wild Duck (Fig. 86) forms the original stock from which 

 our Domestic Ducks have sprung. Their favourite resorts are to be 

 found in those hyperborean regions whose rigorous climate renders 

 it uninhabitable by man. The rivers of Lapland, Greenland, 

 and Siberia are sometimes literally covered with them ; and, in 

 the month of May, their nests are there found in quantities 

 which the imagination can scarcely picture. At the first ap- 

 proach of frost their earliest harbingers begin to appear among 

 us, and about the middle of October these travelling bands arrive 

 in increasing numbers. 



Wild Ducks have a powerful, sustained, and rapid flight. With 

 one stroke of the wing they raise themselves either from the land 

 or water, and mount perpendicularly above the summits of the 

 loftiest trees, when they take a more horizontal course, maintaining 

 themselves at a great height, and making long journeys without 

 rest. Triangular columns of them may sometimes be seen 

 directing their unerring course towards their destination, the 

 rustling of their wings being heard at considerable distances. 

 The leading bird, which directs the course of the band, and which 

 is thus exposed to the first resistance of the wind, from being 

 foremost to cleave the air, soon becomes fatigued, when it falls 

 back into the second rank, its place in the van being immediately 

 taken by another (Fig. 87). 



Wild Ducks are extremely suspicious in their nature. When 

 they want to settle down on any spot, or to go from one pool to 

 another, they sweep round in concentric curves, descending and 

 ascending again and again, until they have made a complete sur- 

 vey of their intended halting-place. 



The margins of fresh- water lakes, pools, and marshes are the 

 principal localities frequented by the Wild Duck, so long as the 



