River and Pond Ducks 



Minnesota, Iowa, and Indiana, they are among the first ducks to 

 arrive and the last to leave with the hardy scaups or bluebills. 

 And in sheltered localities a few sometimes winter, just as a few 

 break through traditions and nest in secluded spots in the same 

 states ; but from Kansas and the Chesapeake country southward, 

 they may be positively relied upon until the time arrives for the 

 spring migration^ however more abundant they may be in the 

 interior than along our coast. Let no one imagine that because 

 some ducks are classified in the books as " river and pond," and 

 others as "sea and bay ducks," they are not often found in the 

 same places. It is the lobed hind toe of the latter group that 

 really differentiates them, and not always their habitats. 



Well concealed in the tall sedges that literally drop food into 

 their gaping mouths, the mallards feed silently upon the ripe 

 grain and seeds, dabbling on the surface of the water or, suddenly 

 tipping tail upward and stretching head downward in the shallow 

 waters, probe the muddy bottom for the small mollusks, fish, 

 worms, rootlets, and vegetable matter they delight in. When a 

 good mouthful has been taken in the bill is closed tight, thus 

 forcing out through the gutters along the sides, that act as strainers, 

 the mud and water that were taken in with the food. Ripe corn 

 that has dropped in the fields is a favorite cereal. Fish and ani- 

 mal substances form a small fraction of the mallards' diet ; they 

 are very near to being vegetarians, the fact that makes their flesh 

 so delicious. 



" In the spring and fall the Kankakee region of Illinois and 

 Indiana is one of the finest grounds for mallards, teal, wood- 

 duck and geese, to be found in the United States," says Maurice 

 Thompson. " I need not say to the sportsman that the mallard 

 is the king's own duck for the table. The canvasback does not 

 surpass it. I have shot corn-fed mallards whose flesh was as 

 sweet as that of a young quail, and at the same time as choice as 

 that of the woodcock." 



Instead of becoming indolent and moody after a plentiful 

 dinner, these ducks are uncommonly lively. They jabber among 

 themselves, spatter the water freely, half fly, half run along the 

 surface of the lake, and are positively playful so long as the leader 

 of the sport, that is on the constant lookout, gives no sign of 

 warning. One might think they were mad, but often their frantic 

 antics indicate that insects are troubling them, and all their splut- 



94 



