INCUBATION OF WILD DUCKS. 235 



frosts of winter do not prevent their obtaining the water-insects 

 and aquatic weeds on which they feed. But when the frost has 

 congealed the stagnant waters, they take themselves off into more 

 temperate climates, invariably following the course of the rivers 

 and running streams. When they return northward after the great 

 thaw that is, about the end of February they keep in pairs, and 

 disperse themselves in search of breeding-places among the rushes, 

 reeds, and sedge-grasses, constructing a bulky nest of weeds, which 

 is simply placed on the ground, and generally near to water. 



Much elegance is not to be looked for in the nest of the Wild 

 Duck. A favourite situation is a thickly- growing tuft of sedge, 

 and they content themselves with plucking off a few of the blades, 

 the ends of which they bend down so as to form a foundation, the 

 surface being covered with a soft layer of down. Their nests 

 are occasionally found at some distance from the water, amidst 

 heath or broom, or even in the fork of a tree, the female having 

 been known to take possession of a Magpie's or Crow's nest which 

 had been abandoned. 



The Duck lays from five to ten eggs, and sometimes more ; 

 their colour varies, but is generally a dull greenish white. The 

 female sits alone, and only leaves the nest to seek her food. When 

 leaving her nest, she covers it up carefully with any rubbish at 

 hand ; on her return, the cunning creature alights a consider- 

 able distance from it, and glides through the grass, looking in 

 every direction to see that she is not watched ; if discovered, she 

 will even feign lameness to induce pursuit, so that she may draw 

 off intruders. 



Incubation lasts about a month. The young ones are then 

 hatched, all generally bursting the egg on the same day. They are 

 covered with a close yellow down, and are quite alert when they leave 

 the shell ; and their mother soon leads them down to the water, en- 

 couraging them by her example to enter it. They do not return to 

 the nest. At night their mother covers them under her wings, and 

 at first feeds them with the small flies that come within her reach. 



The ducklings, although they soon learn to swim, are unable to 

 fly till after the expiration of three months ; after that lapse of 

 time wing- feathers are developed sufficiently to enable them to 

 take flight. But they are always alert and active on the water, 



