The Mallard 
7 
neck is seen, and so fascinating an advance as this no drake of any sensibility 
can withstand. And now comes the choice of a nesting place — a serious 
consideration, in which apparently both drake and duck take part. And very 
queer decisions they occasionally come to. Their nests have been found in all 
sorts of places — sometimes miles away from any water. Even hollow trees 
or deserted crows' nests have been utilised for this purpose, and now and then 
the side of a tall cliff has proved a potent attraction. I have found one even 
amongst the bare stones on the summit of one of the highest mountains in 
Perthshire. As a rule, however, they are found close to the water-side, well 
hidden in some tuft of grass, reeds, heather or bracken. 
How the young descend from these lofty situations as they do without 
injury has often formed the subject of discussion ; but this can be easily seen 
by taking a duckling to the roof of a house and dropping it from there on to 
the grass. A cruel experiment, some may say ; but it is not so in reality, for 
the little bird, being extremely light, falls so slowly that it reaches the earth 
without any sensible shock, and its bones are so gelatinous and supple that no 
sooner is it down than it springs up on its feet and runs away without the 
smallest difficulty. The duck who has built her nest in some elevated position 
flies down to the ground below as soon as the young are hatched, and from 
there calls her family, who come tumbling out one after another, and fall to 
the earth precisely as in the suggested experiment. 
It is a curious fact that nests which are placed close to the water often 
have little or no down in them, while those which are found at long distances 
away are always full of it. I have found Mallards', Pochards', and Shovelers' 
nests, within a few feet of the water, in which there was no down at all. If the 
nest be far from the water the duck begins to pluck the down from her breast 
as soon as she sits, and continues to do so at intervals until the process of 
incubation is completed. When she leaves the nest to feed she carefully 
spreads this covering over the eggs for the double purpose of warmth and 
concealment, and even while sitting she will place leaves and sticks over her 
back and bury her head in the foliage to avoid detection. Knowing, too, that 
