MALLARD. 167 



son that are fast sucking the blood from his limbs. Watch him, Mallard, 

 Nay, wait no longer, for I see him taking aim ; better for you all to fly ! 

 No — well, one of you will certainly furnish him with a repast. Amid the 

 dark wood rises the curling smoke, the report comes on my ear, the ducks 

 all rise save a pair, that, with back downwards and feet kicking against 

 the air, have been hit by the prowler. The free son of the forest slowly 

 approaches the pool, judges at a glance of the depth of the mire, and 

 boldly advances, until with a cane he draws the game towards him. Re- 

 turning to the wood, he now kindles a little fire, the feathers fill the air 

 around ; from each wing he takes a quill, to clean the touch-hole of his 

 gun in damp weather ; the entrails he saves to bait some trap. In a short 

 time the ducks are ready, and the hunter enjoys his meal, although brief 

 time does he take in swallowing the savoury morsels. Soon, the glimmer- 

 ing light of the moon will see him again on his feet, and lead him through 

 the woods, as he goes in pursuit of other game. 



The Mallards that remain with us during the whole year, and breed 

 on the banks of the Mississippi or Lake Michigan, or in the beautiful 

 meadows that here and there border the Schuylkil in Pennsylvania, begin 

 to pair in the very heart of winter ; and although ducks are quite desti- 

 tute of song, their courtships are not devoid of interest. The males, Hke 

 other gay deceivers, offer their regards to the first fair one that attracts 

 their notice, promise unremitting fidelity and affection, and repeat their 

 offers to the next they meet. See that drake, how he proudly shews, first 

 the beauty of his silky head, then the brilliancy of his wing-spots, and, with 

 honeyed jabberings, discloses the warmth of his affection. He plays around 

 this one, then around another, until the passion of jealousy is aroused in 

 the breasts of the admired and flattered. Bickerings arise ; the younger 

 duck disdains her elder sister, and a third, who conceives herself a co- 

 quette of the first order, interposes, as if to ensure the caresses of the 

 feathered beau. Many tricks are played by ducks, good Reader, but 

 ere long, the females retire in search of a safe place in which they may 

 deposit their eggs and rear their young. They draw a quantity of weed i 

 around them, and form an ill-arranged sort of nest, in which from seven 

 to ten eo-o-s are laid. From their bodies they pluck the softest down, and 

 placing it beneath the eggs, begin the long process of incubation, which 

 they intermit only for short periods, when it becomes absolutely neces- 

 sary to procure a little sustenance. 



