304 
SWIMMERS. 
Although it is most natural for all those birds whose young 
run as soon as they are hatched, to deposit their eggs on 
the ground, in the Mallard we have some curious exceptions. 
It is asserted by a person of veracity in England that a 
half-domesticated Duck was known to nest in a tower, where 
she hatched her young, and brought them down, in safety to 
a piece of water at a considerable distance. Mr. Tunstall 
mentions one at Etchingham, in Sussex, which was found 
sitting upon nine eggs, on an oak twenty-five feet from the 
ground ; and in another instance one was known to take pos- 
session of the nest of a Hawk in a large oak. Though believed 
to be monogamous, the fact is doubtful, as during the season 
of incubation the Mallards are seen to congregate apart from 
the Ducks as among other polygamous birds. Indeed, so little 
is the male interested in the fate of the brood he has procre- 
ated that the female, as incubation advances, is assiduous to 
hide herself from the company of her indifferent mate ; she 
steals to her nest with caution, and sits on her eggs with the 
greatest pertinacy and instinctive affection. When the young 
are hatched in situations remote from water, the parent is 
seen to transport them to it by carrying them gently in her 
bill. In the evening the mother retires into the reeds, and 
broods her young under her wings for the night. Almost from 
the moment of hatching, the Ducklings swim and dive with the 
greatest address, employing themselves often in catching gnats 
and other insects on which they at first principally feed ; but 
though so alert and well provided for their aquatic life, their 
aerial progress is slow, as the growth of their wings is very tardy, 
these continuing short and misshapen for near six weeks, and 
the bird can scarcely attempt to fly in less than three months. 
This protracted infancy necessarily indicates the necessity of 
pairing early in the season ; and in the milder parts of Europe 
the males, jealous and quarrelsome with each other, begin 
towards the close of February already to address their mates. 
Wild Ducks at all times show more activity in the night 
than in the day. They feed, migrate, arrive, and depart 
chiefly in the evening and in the night. In the dusk the 
