THE WILD DUCK. 
241 
opposite side, having been raised more than a foot above its 
original height. I therefore lowered it until it was once more 
snugly concealed, and about a week afterwards had the satis- 
faction of seeing the ingenious bird swimming about in com- 
pany with the young brood. When suddenly discovered in a 
burn or a wide ditch, the young instantly dive, and at first 
merely raising the bill above water while taking breath, will 
again disappear, repeating the process as often as necessary, 
until they have got to a considerable distance, when, keeping 
close to the bank, they paddle rapidly away. The mother, on 
finding herself discovered, sinks her body very low, and, keep- 
ing the neck stretched along the water, slowly and without a 
sound thi’eads her way among the water- weeds, following her 
young ; if, however, one hastens after the young, the poor bird, 
throwing off all attempt to conceal herself, follows instantly, 
and with ruffled feathers and dragging wings endeavours by 
every means in her power to divert attention to herself, thereby 
sufficiently contradicting a theory entertained by some natural- 
ists that the lameness of brooding birds is perfectly natural, 
being merely the consequence of sitting long in a constrained 
position, and that the reason why the same is not usually 
observed in birds which do not build upon the ground is that 
their only means of safety lies in flight. The conduct of these 
family parties varies according to situation. For example, 
early one morning in July I came rather suddenly near a 
female Wild Duck and two young ones, sitting among the 
stones at the edge of a good-sized loch. The young ones had 
apparently been hatched about three weeks or a month, and 
rushed off into the water with extraordinary speed, considering 
the broken nature of the ground. The old bird, fluttering and 
tumbling into the water, went splashing along with wings 
and feet, quite in a different direction, happening to be the one 
in which I was going, and I followed at leisure. When the 
young ones -had proceeded about eighty yards from the land, 
they dived, and I saw them no more ; but the old bird, after 
alternately flapping along the water, and, upon my approach, 
Q 
