26 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



Enormous numbers of Wild Ducks are taken every 

 year in the fen countries by means of tunnel-nets, decoy- 

 ponds, and dogs trained for the purpose. Indeed, so 

 profitable an undertaking is this that Pennant records an 

 instance where, in only one season, thirty-one thousand 

 two hundred ducks, including Teals and Widgeons, were 

 sold in London as the proceeds of ten Lincolnshire 

 decoys. 



The Wild Duck breeds early in the season, and the 

 birds probably remain paired through the whole of the 

 year. The nest is generally placed upon the ground, and 

 is built of grass, lined with down and intermixed with 

 down and feathers ; sometimes a spot close to the edge of 

 a lake or river is selected for breeding purposes, and at 

 other times the birds choose a locality entirely removed 

 from the water. 



As regards its young, the Wild Duck exhibits great 

 attention and anxiety; and if they are in any way 

 threatened with danger, the parent becomes extremely 

 excited, and resorts to numerous manoeuvres to secure the 

 safety of the family. 



The young birds, which are known as " Flappers," are 

 supposed to select their mates before the completion of the 

 first year. 



The eggs are of a greenish -white colour, and rather 

 more than two inches in length, and sometimes number 

 fourteen or fifteen. 



The Drake leaves his mate directly she commences to 

 hatch her eggs, and then undergoes, in common with many 

 other male birds of the Duck family, one of the strangest 

 transformations known to naturalists. 



The plumage of the Drake is, up to this time, ex- 



