24 A NATURAL HISTORY OF THE DUCKS 



very shy under persecution; the Teals less so. But certain species show not only 

 timidity, but perfect adaptation to a harassed existence. Of course, no matter how 

 wild the bird, if its diurnal habits are uniform, and it flies over, or arrives at, similar 

 points each day, it will surely eventually be killed; our Black Ducks have not only 

 learned a great deal about man and his weapons, but have acquired the habit of 

 taking different routes from day to day, so that they may completely baffle the 

 shooter. 



All young ducks are fairly tame until shot at. I have decoyed Black Ducks suc- 

 cessfully by simply waving a hat above the grass and giving a few quacks, but on 

 our New England coast the same species becomes so shy as to defy almost all efforts 

 for its capture, except when stress of weather closes part of its feeding grounds. All 

 ducks become more "gentle" during strong winds or freezing weather. As a rule 

 flocks on active migration are far more confiding than after they have become local- 

 ized in some definite place for a few weeks. Thus in our New England ponds one can 

 tell almost at a glance a flock of local, wintering ducks, that has come in from the 

 coast for shelter during a storm, from a flock of migrants that stops here and there 

 only for a few hours. 



Some island species, as the Laysan and the Georgian Teals, are still fearless in the 

 presence of man, and in certain parts of India, where it is left alone through religious 

 tolerance, the Ruddy Sheldrake, usually a very shy bird, becomes perfectly oblivious 

 to human activities. 



Speaking broadly, the Spur-winged group are mostly wary, the Goose Teals and 

 the Tree Ducks less so, and the Egyptian Geese and Casarcas extremely observant 

 and very intelligent. All the Mallard-like ducks, except a few isolated species, are 

 wild and capable of great adaptation. The diving ducks are not individually so in- 

 telligent as the fresh-water ducks, but here again there are many differences, and 

 the Golden-eyes are extremely wary and also unsociable with other species. None 

 of the Scoters and Eiders can be called susceptible of much education, while all the 

 Spiny-tailed, or Ruddy Duck, family are distinctly stupid. 



One cannot estimate wariness by the ease with which the birds come to decoys. 

 Some rather tame ducks do not decoy, because they lack the instincts of sociability. 



SPECIAL SENSES 

 That hearing and sight and the sense of touch are highly developed in most anatine 

 birds is recognized by every one. On the sense of smell there is such widely conflict- 

 ing evidence that I am inclined to dismiss the subject without comment, for I cer- 

 tainly have nothing of interest to add, except the fact that Mallard Ducks can easily 

 detect the presence of various essential oils when placed on their food. That there is 

 in some geese and ducks a power to detect enemies down wind under certain condi- 

 tions must be acknowledged. No one who has talked to the old decoy -men of Hoi- 



