THE MALLARD. 
141 
become so serviceable to man. In many individuals, the ge- 
neral garb of the tame drake seems to have undergone little or 
no alteration ; but the stamp of slavery is strongly imprinted 
in his dull indifferent eye and grovelling gait, while the lofty 
look, long tapering neck, and sprightly action of the former, 
bespeak his native spirit and independence. 
The common wild-duck is found in every fresh water lake 
and river of the United States in winter, but seldom frequents 
the sea-shores or salt marshes. Their summer residence is the 
north, the great nursery of this numerous genus. Instances 
have been known of some solitary pairs breeding here in au- 
tumn. In England these instances are more common. The 
nest is usually placed in the most solitary recesses of the marsh, 
or bog, amidst coarse grass, reeds, and rushes, and generally 
contains from twelve to sixteen eggs, of a dull greenish white. 
The young are led about by the mother in the same manner 
as those of the tame duck, but with a superior caution, a cun- 
ning and watchful vigilance peculiar to her situation. The 
male attaches himself to one female, as among other birds in 
their native state, and is the guardian and protector of her and 
her feeble brood. The mallard is numerous in the rice fields 
of the southern states during winter^ many of the fields being 
covered with a few inches of water ; and, the scattered grains 
of the former harvest lying in abundance, the ducks swim 
about, and feed at pleasure. 
The flesh of the common wild-duck is in general and high 
estimation ; and the ingenuity of man, in every country where 
it frequents, has been employed in inventing stratagems to 
overreach these wary birds, and procure a delicacy for the 
table. To enumerate all these various contrivances would far 
exceed our limits ; a few, however, of the most simple and 
effective may be mentioned. 
In some ponds frequented by these birds, five or six wooden 
figures, cut and painted so as to represent ducks, and sunk, by 
pieces of lead nailed on their bottoms, so as to float at the 
usual depth on the surface, are anchored in a favourable posi- 
