The Wood Duck 
27 
But only the old birds were to be seen. There they sat silent, with 
heads erect and necks stiff, at some distance from the position they had 
recently occupied. In a moment they had risen from the water with a 
great noise of whistling wings that made the little dell resound, and 
gathering headway rushed whizzing away like a pair of departing bomb- 
shells. 
Surely there were no young about, to be deserted in this way. To make 
sure I shoved the skiff here and there through the 
grass and reeds, and struck the water repeatedly with Concealment 
the paddle, but no young could be found. While this 
was going on, the old ones returned, and, after circling several times, 
settled in the lake half a mile away. 
Some hours later I again approached the ducks’ feeding-ground and 
again saw the old ones with the young. I determined to outwit them if 
possible and see what had become of the young. Taking a boy in the boat 
we boldly approached the ducks. As we rounded the point of grass there 
were the male and female sitting alone as before. Instantly they were 
upon the wing. An old rail-fence, which had now partly fallen, extended 
from the field out through the grass into the shallow water. On this I 
climbed, and lying at full length on a couple of rails but a- few inches 
above the water found myself well hidden from view. The boy now 
paddled away with my hat and coat decorating one of the paddles which 
he leaned against the middle thwart. I lay in the sunshine and waited. 
Twenty minutes later the ducks came flying back, the female in the 
lead. Silently they lit in the water near the bend of the grass, and soon 
swam directly toward my hiding-place. Feeling sure both men had gone 
away in the boat they did not stop long to reconnoitre, and one of them 
soon gave a few low clucks which quickly brought the young out of their 
hiding-places in the grass. How the little fuzzy fellows did gather about 
their parents, and how happy they seemed at the old ones’ return ! 
In the midst of the performance a slight noise from my direction 
caused the quick danger-signal to be given by the father. At once the 
brood was in action, hurrying away for the friendly cover of the grass. 
Wishing to catch one for closer inspection I rose 
hastily and went splashing through the water toward 
them. This time there was no desertion by the 
parents ; the young were not yet hidden and so could not be left in safety. 
Here and there, round and round, the anxious old ducks fluttered as 
if helpless from broken wings. 
The female hurried the youngsters on by alternate leading and driv- 
ing, while the male endeavored to 'divert my attention to himself in an- 
other direction. Even after the brood had distanced me in the chase, 
and were well secreted, the parents did not leave the pool. Their secret 
had been discovered and they continued to feign lameness until I had 
waded ashore and departed across the fields. 
Wood Ducks sometimes select for their nests trees close to water, 
but the dozen or more which I have found were all some distance away. 
Protecting 
the Young 
