282 WILD TRAITS IN TAME ANIMALS. 



to a weather-beaten shrub, or bunch of pampas- 

 grass ; and, if the bird is disturbed, from this 

 apparent covert there darts, with sinuous move- 

 ment and an ominous hiss, something that looks 

 enough like a snake to make most horses and 

 other animals start away in terror. In reality 

 this fearful object is nothing but the head and 

 neck of the brooding rhea. One can easily 

 understand that among thick grass or reeds, 

 where only the head and neck of a nesting duck 

 are visible, the forward dart and hiss might 

 often be sufficient to deter a cautious enemy 

 from making an attack. 



It should be easier for us to trace wild traits 

 in the duck than in the barndoor fowl, because 

 the ancestors of the former were mostly natives 

 of our own part of the world. Many of our tame 

 varieties still bear a close resemblance to the 

 wild ducks with which many sportsmen and nat- 

 uralists are familiar. It seems not unlikely that 

 the amphibious domestic birds have been domes- 

 ticated for a longer time than those of the gallin- 

 aceous order. Most tame ducks are still able to 

 make shift both in getting; food and in guarding 

 against enemies with very little aid from their 

 owners. 



