A Wild Duck. 6 1 



ice and mud attached to his tail. He had probably 

 found the insects plentiful in some bit of soft mud 

 at low tide, and stayed there too long with the ther- 

 mometer at zero. 



Night is their feeding time ; on the seacoast they fly 

 in to the feeding grounds just at dusk. Fog bewil- 

 ders them, and no bird likes to l^y in rain, because 

 it makes the feathers heavy ; so on foggy or rainy 

 afternoons they come in early, or not at all. The 

 favorite feeding ground is a salt marsh, with springs 

 and creeks of brackish water. Seeds, roots, tender 

 grasses, and snails and insects in the mud left by 

 the low tide are their usual winter food. When 

 these grow scarce they betake themselves to the mus- 

 sel beds with the coots ; their flesh in consequence 

 becomes strong and fish}^. 



When the first birds come in to the feeding grounds 

 before dark, they do it with the greatest caution, ex- 

 amining not only the little pond or creek, but the 

 whole neighborhood before lighting. The birds that 

 follow trust to the inspection of these first comers, 

 and generally fly straight in. For this reason it is 

 well for one who attempts to see them at this time 

 to have live decoys and, if possible, to have his blind 

 built several days in advance, in order that the birds 

 which may have been feeding in the place shall see 

 no unusual object when they come in. If the blind 



