SHOAL-WATER DUCKS. 20I 



condition. In color the Mallard resembles almost precisely the 

 barnyard drake, but the colors are purer, more marked, and the 

 orange of the feet more brilliant. Length about twenty-four 

 inches, weight two and one-half to three pounds. The female is 

 in color dull yellowish-brown streaked and spotted with dusky, 

 like the female of the domestic duck. Far north of us, beyond the 

 parallel of 50°, where so many of our wild fowl find the seclusion 

 necessary during the breeding season, the Mallards are found nest- 

 ing in the greatest numbers. A few remain within our boundaries, 

 but these grow less each year, and the encroachments of man drive 

 them from their ancient haunts. Toward the close of summer, and 

 during the early fall, they reappear in augmented forces, being ac- 

 companied by their full-grown offspring. After their first arrival 

 they are quite unsuspicious of man, and, decoying well, are shot in 

 extraordinary numbers. 



Common places of resort are the extensive wild rice marshes which 

 abound in Wisconsin and Illinois. The seed of this plant is the 

 favorite food of the Mallard, and they, with thousands of our other 

 fresh water fowl, repdr to these localities. As colder weather ap- 

 proaches and ponds begin to skim over with ice, the Mallards betake 

 themselves to the rivers where they congregate in vast flocks. At 

 this time they frequently make journeys morning and evening to 

 neighboring cornfields and the like, for food. 



The sportsman, concealed behind a fence, hedge-row, or in a 

 corn-stalk house, will obtain excellent chances, at times bagging 

 six to eight birds at a discharge. He should be dressed in clothing 

 of lightest color if there be snow on the ground. In this shooting 

 every duck brought down may be secured, as a duck on land with- 

 out the use of his wings becomes an easy prey, while on the water 

 many are lost by being slightly wing-tipped only, diving or paddling 

 through the grass much faster than a boat can pursue. The birds 

 become excessively wary, however, after being shot at in the fields, 

 and are very shy of any cover which has an artificial look, showing 

 great cunning in keeping just out of gunshot. When the freezing- 

 up of all small bodies of water, sloughs, and pond-holes drives the 

 ducks to the creeks and rivers, where food and resting-places are 

 still accessible. Mallards may be shot in goodly numbers. Decoys 

 should be used, and by placing a part in the water, and two or three 



