CHAPTER XI. 



CORN-FIELD MALLARD SHOOTING WINTER. 



As the cold weather approaches and the ponds 

 begin to skim over with ice, the mallards in 

 many places, instead of migrating further south, 

 betake themselves to the rivers, where they con- 

 gregate in large numbers, and by the combined 

 warmth of their bodies and the constant agita- 

 tion of the water manage to keep large surfaces 

 from freezing over, long after the surrounding 

 water has frozen to a depth of several 

 inches. For food they depend almost wholly upon 

 corn, which they steal from the adjacent fields, 

 making usually two trips a day for the purpose, 

 and extending them frequently to a distance of 

 six .or eight miles from the river. At this time 

 they feed almost entirely by day, returning to 

 the river to drink and to roost at night. 



Though their numbers are sometimes almost in- 

 credible, comparatively few are killed in the fields, 

 on account of the large extent of their feeding- 

 grounds and their natural shyness when over the 



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