Anas obscura 
X 
Lake Umbagog. Black Duck with young. 
1903 
Juno 14 
As I was returning to Lakeside in my canoe, late yester¬ 
day afternoon, I surprised a mother Black Duck with her brood of 
six young (which appeared to be about a week old) swimming close 
to a bed of half-submerged grass not far from Peaslie's spring. 
The young scattered at the first alarm and running on the surface 
of the water, after the interesting manner of all young wild ducks, 
quickly disappeared among the grass. The mother rose with loud 
quacking and flying rather heavily or, at least, slowly, circled 
around me just out of gunshot, finally alighting some distance off 
and well to one side of my course. It was raining at the time and 
there was a strong southeast wind before which I was scudding under 
reefed sail. 
As I approached the same place this evening, paddling 
quietly over the calm surface, I heard the thin, feeble peeping of 
the young which appeared to be well scattered among the flooded 
grass. Peep-peep-peep-peep-peep-peep they called to one another 
(or to their parent) almost exactly like young tame Ducks. Pre¬ 
sently the mother rose at some distance off, close to the edge of 
the woods. Somewhat to my surprise she adopted tactics wholly 
different from those which she pursued last evening. On the pre¬ 
sent occasion she preceeded me for a considerable distance*by a 
succession of short flights alighting each time directly in line 
y 
with my course in open water and taking wing again just before I 
got within long gun range. It seemed to me quite evident that she 
was trying to lure me away from her young but,if so,she made no 
attempt to simulate the actions of a wounded bird. 
