THE POULTRY BOOK. 
299 
dives, although not in search of food. Seeds of gramineae and other plants, 
fleshy and fibrous roots, worms, mollusca, insects, small reptiles, and fishes, are 
the principal objects of its search. In shallow water, it reaches the bottom with 
its bill, keeping the hind part of the body erect by a continued motion of the 
feet. On the water it sits rather lightly, with the tail considerably inclined 
upwards ; when searching under the surface it keeps the tail flat on the water, 
and when puddling at the bottom with its hind part up, it directs the tail 
backward. The male emits a low and rather soft cry, between a croak and a 
murmur, and the female a louder and clearer jabber. Both on being alarmed, 
and especially in flying off, quack ; but the quack of the female is much louder. 
When feeding, they are silent ; but when satiated they often amuse themselves 
with various jabberings, swim about, approach each other, move their heads 
backward and forward, * duck ’ in the water, throwing it over their backs, shoot 
along its surface, half flying, half running, and, in short, are quite playful when 
in good humour. 
“ On being surprised or alarmed, whether on shore or on the water, they spring 
up at once with a bound, rise obliquely to a considerable height, and fly off with 
speed, their hard-quilled wings whistling against the air. When in full flight, 
their velocity is very great, being probably a hundred miles in the hour. Like 
other ducks, they impel themselves by quickly repeated flaps, without sailings or 
undulations. 
“ In March they pair, and soon after disperse and select a breeding-place. The 
nest, bulky, and rudely constructed of flags, sedges, grasses, and other plants, is 
placed on the ground in the midst of a marsh, or among reeds or rushes, some- 
times in a meadow, or even among heath, but always near the water. Instances 
are recorded of its being built in the fork of a tree, and a duck has been knovvui to 
occupy the deserted nest of a crow. The eggs, from five to ten, are pale dull-green, 
or greenish-white, two inches and a quarter in length, an inch and nine-twelfths in 
breadth. When incubation commences, the male takes his leave, though he keeps 
in the neighbourhood, and joining others, undergoes his annual moult. 
The female sits very closely, and, rather than leave her charge, will often allow 
a person to approach quite near. 
“ One day, while searching in the marsh at the head of Duddingston Loch for 
some plants, I was suddenly arrested by observing among my feet some living 
creature of considerable size. Perceiving it to be a duck, I instantly, perhaps in- 
stinctively, pounced upon it ; but thinking the eight eggs a sufficient prize, I 
threw the poor bird into the air, when she flew off in silence. Frequently in 
leaving the nest she covers it rudely with straws and feathers, probably for the 
purpose of concealing the eggs. The young are hatched in four weeks, and, being- 
covered with stiffish down, and quite alert, accompany their mother to the water, 
where they swim and dive as expertly as if they had been born in it. The mother 
shows the greatest attention to them, protects them from birds, feigns lameness to 
withdraw intruders from them, and leading about from place to place, secures for 
