140 



DUCK HAWK. 



oak tree twenty-five feet from the ground : and the author of the Rural 

 Sports records an instance of one taking- possession of the nest of a 

 hawk in a large oak. To these we can add, upon the testimony of a 

 gentleman of the strictest veracity, that out of a large flock of half- 

 domesticated Ducks, one deposited her eggs in the principal fork of a 

 large tree near his house. 



Mr. Pennant mentions thirty-one thousand two hundred having 

 been taken one season in decoys, in the neighbourhood of Wainfleet ; 

 and it appears on record that no less than two thousand six hundred 

 and forty-six Mallards or Drakes were taken in two days, near Spald- 

 ing. These appear to have been young birds before they could fly, 

 called flappers.* Wild Ducks pair, but when domesticated one male 

 will serve several females. 



* Dr. Latham remarks, that the male Muscovy Duck will not unfre- 

 quently produce with the common species. 



Observing, at a farm-house, some Ducks that had the appearance of 

 being a mixed breed between these two species, enquiry was made, and 

 the farmer assured us he had seven young ones, the sire of which was 

 of the Muscovy breed ; two of these of apparently different sexes were 

 obtained. 



These hybrid birds bear a greater resemblance to the common than 

 to the Muscovy species. The bill has a little reddish colour at the 

 base, but there is no bare space about the eyes, as in the Muscovy, nor 

 has the male the curled feathers in the tail, like the common Mallard. 

 The size of the male is vastly superior to that of the female ; the 

 former is black on the crown of the head and the upper part of the 

 body, glossed with purple and violet ; the rest of the plumage is white. 

 The female is quite white, except a single spot on the head. They 

 have not the note of the common species, at least the female note is as 

 inaudible as that of the other sex. 



The common Duck, as well as other wild fowl, becomes scarcer every 

 year, in a country like this, where agriculture makes so leading a fea- 

 ture ; few comparatively remain to breed with us since the more exten- 

 sive fens have been drained and converted into pasture. The great 

 fenny tracts in Lincolnshire do not produce a dozen broods of wild fowl 

 at present, where, half a century back, as many thousands were hatched. 

 In a tour through that country, during the incubating season, we ob- 

 served that the Mallards congregated while the Ducks were sitting ; 

 it is therefore probable that, like the domestic ones, they are mostly 

 polygamous.* 



DUCK HAWK.— A name for the Marsh Harrier. 



