THE COMMON WILD DUCK. 33 



with slight mottlings of dusky brown. The female is smaller, 

 wants the curled feathers in the tail, and the green and 

 white on the head and neck. The whole of her plumage is 

 rusty brown, spotted and lined with dusky black, only the 

 wing spot has much similarity to that in the male. The 

 young in their first plumage resemble the female. 



The nest is usually formed in the situations which possess, 

 in the highest degree, the joint qualities of concealment and 

 proximity to the water. Annual herbage, when that affords 

 cover enough, is preferred ; but the nest is sometimes in a 

 tangled bush at the distance of several feet from the ground. 

 There have been instances of their breeding in hollows of 

 trees, situations to which many of the duck tribe are known 

 to be partial ; so much so, that some of those species which 

 are not known to breed naturally in this country, could not 

 be made to breed in the ponds of the Zoological Society's 

 garden until they were accommodated with boxes on the 

 tops of poles, and then they bred freely. When the nest is 

 elevated above the ground, it is in part formed of small 

 sticks, though openly and rudely. When on the ground it 

 is composed of a few straws and withered stems, or of rushes ; 

 and in moist places the bird partially lines it with down from 

 her own breast. The brood are numerous, often as many as 

 sixteen ; the eggs are obtuse and blunt, of a whitish colour 

 when recent, and with the yolk almost red. They breed 

 early ; but have only one brood in the season, unless where 

 some casualty happens to the nest. The pair live apart at 

 that time, and the female is very watchful both of her eggs 



v OO 



and her brood. 



It is doubtful whether those improvements that have 

 thinned the numbers of many of our marsh birds have had 

 the same effect upon wild ducks. If they find water and 

 cover, it does not appear to signify much whether it is in 

 the wild, or in the cultivated district. They breed in the 



