240 
THE MALLARD. 
from which, after a violent struggle, they make their escape. What beau- 
tiful creatures ! See how, with their little bills, they dry their downy 
apparel ! Now, in a long line, one after another, they follow their glad 
mother to the water, on arriving at which they take to swimming and 
diving, as if elated with joy for having been introduced into existence. The 
male, wearied and emaciated, is far away on some other pond. The un- 
natural barbarian cares nothing about his progeny, nor has a thought arisen 
in his mind respecting the lonely condition of his mate, the greatness of her 
cares, or the sadness that she may experience under the idea that she has 
been utterly forsaken by him who once called her his only and truly beloved. 
No, reader, not a thought of this kind has he wasted on her whom he has 
left alone in charge of a set of eggs, and now of a whole flock of innocent 
ducklings, to secure which from danger, and see them all grow up apace, she 
manifests the greatest care and anxiety. She leads them along the shallow 
edges of grassy ponds, and teaches them to seize the small insects that 
abound there, the flies, the musquitoes, the giddy beetles that skim along the 
surface in circles and serpentine lines. At the sight of danger they run as 
it were on the water, make directly for the shore, or dive and disappear. In 
about six weeks, those that have escaped from the ravenous fishes and turtles 
have attained a goodly size ; the quills appear on their wings ; their bodies 
are encased with feathers ; but as yet none are able to fly. They now pro- 
cure their food by partial immersions of the head and neck in the manner of 
the old bird. At this period they are already fit for the table, and delicate 
as well as- savoury food they afford. By the time that the leaves are chang- 
ing their hues, the young Mallards take freely to their wings, and the old 
males join the congregated flocks. 
The Squatters of the Mississippi raise a considerable number of Mallards, 
which they catch when quite young, and which, after the first year, are as 
tame as they can wish. These birds raise broods which are superior even 
to those of the wild ones, for a year or two, after which they become similar 
to the ordinary Ducks of the poultry-yard. The hybrids produced between 
the Mallard and the Muscovy Duck are of great size, and afford excellent 
eating. Some of these half-breeds now and then wander off, become quite 
wild, and have, by some persons, been considered as forming a distinct 
species. They also breed, when tame, with the Black Duck {Anas fusca ) 
and the Gadwal, the latter connection giving rise to a very handsome hybrid, 
retaining the yellow feet and barred plumage of the one, and the green head 
of the other parent. 
I have found the Mallard breeding on large prostrate and rotten logs, three 
feet above the ground, and in the centre of a cane-brake, nearly a mile dis- 
tant from any water. Once I found a female leading her young through the 
