240 THE MALLARD. 



from which, after a violent struggle, they make their escape. What beau- 

 tiful creatures! See how, with their little bills, they dry their downy 

 apparel! Now, in a long line, one after another, they follow their glad 

 mother to the water, on arriving at which they take to swimming and 

 diving, as if elated with joy for having been introduced into existence. The 

 male, wearied and emaciated, is far away on some other pond. The un- 

 natural barbarian cares nothing about his progeny, nor has a thought arisen 

 in his mind respecting the lonely condition of his mate, the greatness of her 

 cares, or the sadness that she may experience under the idea that she has 

 been utterly forsaken by him who once called her his only and truly beloved. 

 No, reader, not a thought of this kind has he wasted on her whom he has 

 left alone in charge of a set of eggs, and now of a whole flock of innocent 

 ducklings, to secure which from danger, and see them all grow up apace, she 

 manifests the greatest care and anxiety. She leads them along the shallow 

 edges of grassy ponds, and teaches them to seize the small insects that 

 abound there, the flies, the musquitoes, the giddy beetles that skim along the 

 surface in circles and serpentine lines. At the sight of danger they run as 

 it were on the water, make directly for the shore, or dive and disappear. In 

 about six weeks, those that have escaped from the ravenous fishes and turtles 

 have attained a goodly size; the quills appear on their wings; their bodies 

 are encased with feathers; but as yet none are able to fly. They now pro- 

 cure their food by partial immersions of the head and neck in the manner of 

 the old bird. At this period they are already fit for the table, and delicate 

 as well as savoury food they afford. By the time that the leaves are chang- 

 ing their hues, the young Mallards take freely to their wings, and the old 

 males join the congregated flocks. 



The Squatters of the Mississippi raise a considerable number of Mallards, 

 which they catch when quite young, and which, after the first year, are as 

 tame as they can wish. These birds raise broods which are superior even 

 to those of the wild ones, for a year or two, after which they become similar 

 to the ordinary Ducks of the poultry-yard. The hybrids produced between 

 the Mallard and the Muscovy Duck are of great size, and afford excellent 

 eating. Some of these half-breeds now and then wander off, become quite 

 wild, and have, by some persons, been considered as forming a distinct 

 species. They also breed, when tame, with the Black Duck [Anas fusca) 

 and the Gadwal, the latter connection giving rise to a very handsome hybrid, 

 retaining the yellow feet and barred plumage of the one, and the green head 

 of the other parent. 



I have found the Mallard breeding on large prostrate and rotten logs, three 

 feet above the ground, and in the centre of a cane-brake, nearly a mile dis- 

 tant from any water. Once I found a female leading her young through the 



