THE DUCKLING 
hung back, as if afraid, but the mother gave them, 
one by one, a good push with her bill, right over the 
cliff, and then flew down after them. 
By the time the one who was watching reached 
the edge of the cliff and looked over, the mother was 
swimming out to sea with her young ones behind 
her, none of them any the worse for the tumble. 
The Ducklings do not fly until they are nine or 
ten weeks old. They scutter along the surface of the 
water at a great rate, using their feet and wings. 
They are really dirty little dabblers, and the blacker 
the mud the more they seem to like it. They fill 
their bills with ooze, but they do not eat it ^ they 
only strain it for the worms and insects it contains. 
When harvest comes they make their way, if 
they can, to a cornfield, and feast on the fallen grain. 
The Wild Duck or Mallard pairs for life, and 
has only one wife, but the farmyard Drake has any 
number. 
90 
