. The water-fowl family . anies. This bird is the standard game duck of thenortheastern United States and Canada, occur-ring on all the bodies of water inland and alongthe coast. Exposed on all sides to gunning ofevery description, the black duck thrives, andholds its own with a reputation for cunning andwisdom unsurpassed. It breeds regularly farthersouth than has been generally supposed. Northern New England, New Brunswick, NovaScotia, and eastern Canada north of the are favorite breeding-grounds. Itnests sparingly in Massachusetts, Connecticut,and Long Island. For several years
. The water-fowl family . anies. This bird is the standard game duck of thenortheastern United States and Canada, occur-ring on all the bodies of water inland and alongthe coast. Exposed on all sides to gunning ofevery description, the black duck thrives, andholds its own with a reputation for cunning andwisdom unsurpassed. It breeds regularly farthersouth than has been generally supposed. Northern New England, New Brunswick, NovaScotia, and eastern Canada north of the are favorite breeding-grounds. Itnests sparingly in Massachusetts, Connecticut,and Long Island. For several years the writernoticed in early August a brood of young blackduck on the Quinnipiac River, a short distancefrom New Haven. The nest is composed ofcoarse grass, and is generally situated in a swampor marsh close to the water. From eight totwelve eggs are laid. The young are hatched inlate June, and carefully guarded and concealed bythe old bird, who keeps them close to the marsh,where long grass and weeds afford a ready protec-. Duck-sbooting 8i tion. If disturbed under these circumstances, theold duck remains perfectly quiet, only quackingwhen she jumps into the air. Left alone, theyoung ducks occasionally betray their presenceby a frightened peep. The brood rapidly growsto full size on a diet of insects, grubs, and variouswater-grasses, and by the latter part of Augustare full grown and able to flap out of the longgrass. Now they are easily killed, and their fleshis most tender and excellent. In localities where blueberries grow near thewater they are a favorite food. On the MagdalenIslands the writer has frequently seen black duckfeeding high up on the hills among the blueberrybushes, in company with Hudsonian curlew. Thefamilies soon congregate, and in the early fall wefind them in flocks of more than fifty. By themiddle of October they appear in numbers alongour coast, frequenting the ponds and rivers ashort distance inland and the shallow bays, espe-cially where there are marsh
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectfowling, bookyear1903
