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loudly, and the most successful gunners do not use them at all. The same thing is 
seen when a flock of these local w intering ducks comes into a pond w here there is a 
shooting-stand. But the flight ducks of September and October are very tame in 
comparison. I have seen Black Ducks come back to live decoys a second time after 
being shot at. I have also once or twdce seen ducks that would not fly when a gun 
was shot close to them. I once saw' a Black Duck shot by rowdng down upon him wdth 
a boat in the open water of a lake. With these early autumn migrants it is often pos- 
sible to shoot several out of a flock, one after the other, with a 22-caliber rifle, if the 
wind is blowing toward one. Several times wild Black Ducks have follow'ed live 
decoys right up to the door of a shooting-stand, and I have even found ducks inside 
the stand sitting on the decoy coops, w'hen no live decoys were anchored outside. 
O. W. Knight (1908) has known of Black Ducks that so gorged themselves with 
huckleberries in late August that they w'ent to sleep under the bushes near the 
water. One which he found in this condition w'as unable to fly away ! 
Every one who has shot in the sounds of North Carolina and Virginia knows how 
much tamer Black Ducks are there, even where many of them are “Red-legs.” 
Wliy this should be I do not know, except that of course where enormous numbers 
are present, ducks do seem to be less alert. On the other hand, writing of Minnesota, 
Hatch (1892) remarked that a single one in a flock of Mallards proved a sad defeat 
to the sportsman’s purpose. In Michigan late flights of Black Ducks at Sheldrake 
Lake were noted for their wildness (Birdseye, U.S. Biological Survey field notes). 
In Massachusetts, Herring Gulls and even Black-backed Gulls may sometimes 
act as sentinels when Black Ducks are sleeping on a beach, at least so Mackay (Auk, 
vol. 9, p. 223, 1892) thought. 
It is remarkable that noises such as gun-shots do not disturb Black Ducks at night 
at anything like the same distance that they do by day. The birds seem more con- 
fident and rely upon the darkness for protection. 
I have perhaps created an impression by the foregoing that the Black Duck is not 
a particularly wary bird. This is not so. No duck can compete with this species on 
equal terms, except perhaps the Pintail. Mallards, at least as we see them in 
North America, are certainly tamer. 
Daily Movements. This species probably does not differ by nature from the 
Mallard, although it appears to be more nocturnal. The early-flight birds are not 
nocturnal, and those following the coast respond regularly to the rise and fall of 
the tide. In summer and early autumn the species is crepuscular. In wdnter it be- 
comes entirely nocturnal, spending the whole day outside the beaches if the w ind is 
off shore and coming in to the marsh only when the sea becomes too rough ; and it is 
truly remarkable what wind and wave this hardy species can ride out. Under the 
old conditions, that is, when shot at every night, almost no ducks remained in our 
