MOULTING OF FLIGHT-FEATHERS IN THE WILD puUCK. 231 
to running water, until at the first appearance of thaw they 
return at once to their accustomed haunt, which they do not 
quit for the rest of the year. 
Early in March, especially if the weather be open, the birds 
begin to pair, and visit the ponds to select the favoured spot 
which is to shelter their young. Formerly they used to make 
their nests amongst the tufted reeds by the small pools in the 
forest adjoining the larger meres, but since collectors have made 
‘such a raid upon them, they have modified their habits, and 
taken to building on the edge of the water, where the surrounding 
growth is thickest, especially amongst thorns and willows. 
Towards the end of April, if we row about these meres in a 
boat, instead of putting up a pair of Wild Ducks now and then, 
we only see the Mallard, since the female, having finished laying 
her full complement of ten or a dozen eggs, is now sitting. 
Incubation lasts twenty-eight days, the earliest young birds 
being hatched out about the middle of May, and all hatching 
being over by the middle of June, except in the case of second 
broods, which may be seen as late as July 10th or 15th. 
The Wild Duck is an excellent mother, never deserting her 
brood, and when she takes them insect-catching, to which they 
are much addicted, if it happens that she is suddenly surprised 
by an intruder, she leaves no ruse untried to deceive him, just 
like the Partridge of old Lafontaine. You should see her then 
fluttering and limping along as if badly wounded, to mislead the 
intruder and draw him away from the ducklings. The latter, 
moreover, warned by a note of alarm from their mother, lie 
hidden in the grass, and never stir until she returns to let them 
know that the danger has passed. 
Meanwhile, the time of moulting is at hand, for the Mallard 
that we saw flying about by himself until about the middle of 
June we have since lost sight of. His fine spring plumage 
has given place to a more sombre livery, in which all the 
feathers with metallic reflections have disappeared. The 
flight-feathers, both primaries and secondaries, have been 
suddenly shed, leaving the wing quite bare, and its owner 
absolutely incapable of taking flight. From the 1st to the 
15th July, when wildfowl shooting commences in our district 
(Meurthe et Moselle), there is not a single Mallard to be found 
in flying order, and sportsmen then give them the characteristic 
