10 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



the approach of winter, as do some others of his kind. Pro- 

 perly, the word "mallard" is applicable only to the male, anP 

 is so used in Dorsetshire. To talk of a "mallard-duck,", as 

 some people do, is as preposterous' as it would be to speak 

 of a "stallion mare." Like her domesticated descendants, 

 the wild Duck is a good breeder, laying her 10 or 11 eggs 

 per annum. Wary in the extreme is she, her nest being 

 carefully hidden, often at some distance from water. Her 

 young, which for a long while are unable to fly, have then 

 to run the gauntlet of land foes till they reach the water, 

 and when there are frequently snapped up by hungry pike. 



In this neighbourhood wild ducks spend some seven 

 months of the year, leaving in April. A few breed in the 

 neighbourhood. I remember one brood in the Chapoo Creek 

 in August. 



The pintail, or sea pheasant, (Dafila acuta) so called 

 from the five-inch length of the middle pair of tail feathers, 

 which make him longer than the mallard (26). In appearance 

 he will bear comparison with the true wild duck, though his 

 tints are mainly browns and greys with black pencillings. 

 He is plentiful in season and is excellent eating, very strong 

 and rapid in flight, and not easy to kill with on-coming shot 

 owing to the density of his breast plumage. 



The gadwall, (AiiasStrepera, or Chaiidelasiiius streperus), 

 is a chestnut-headed duck with black and white markings on 

 the wings (28). It is not one of our common visitors. 



The Teal (Qiierqiiedela crccca.) {\A\). A lovely little 

 bird, very plentiful, and alf too trusting. Nothing but his 

 lightning rise and rapid flight saves him from far more 

 terrible decimation than he now suffers. Sometimes, in the 

 days gone by, almost every pond in the Kashing and Hang- 

 chow districts held him and the confident gunner went up 

 ready for his right and left. Only, however, if he had 

 learnt the knack, for in most cases a griffin discovered that 

 both first and second barrels were wasted on empty air, the 

 first under, the second behind, his birds. He is a hungry 

 little fellow is the teal and like Sairey Gamp likes his 

 nourishment whenever "dispoged", by night or day. 



The widgeon, (Mareca Penelope) (18). A creamy white 

 forehead, with chocolate cheeks and neck, together with a 

 greyish white back and black pencillings are amongst the 

 distinctive marks of his species. Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey 

 once killed, with a charge of 6 oz. of powder and 32 oz. of 

 shot, no fewer than 148 of them, a form of market provision 

 which has its advocates and its justification, but which to 

 me suggests the advisability of writing to the Admiralty to 

 point out how much more the Dreadnaught might do in the 

 same line! 



