Black duck

“ Hiding under a bank, crawling into a muskrat hole, worming a way under a bunch of dead grass or pile of leaves, swimming around and around a clump of bushes just out of sight of his pursuer, diving and coming up behind a tuft of grass,—these are some of the ways by which I have known a black duck try to escape. ”

“ This is especially true of the dusky duck, more generally known by the name black duck among hunters. He is indeed a wild duck, so wild that one must study him with a gun, and study him long before he knows much about him. An ordinary [Pg 56] tramp with a field-glass and eyes wide open may give a rare, distant view of him; but only as one follows him as a sportsman winter after winter, meeting with much less of success than of discouragement, does he pick up many details of his personal life; for wildness is born in him, and no experience with man is needed to develop it. ”

“ The Black East India Duck is a dwarf black duck differing so little from the Call Ducks as to leave no doubt, in the mind of any one acquainted with the mysteries of making and naming breeds of poultry, that, like the Call Ducks, it is of European origin. ”

“ For black-ducks, however, I prefer the manufactured duck-call, and in going out for them, I cannot too strongly impress upon the reader the necessity for the utmost caution and the most careful hiding. When shooting at some small pond hole in the middle of the marshes, it is better to only use one or two decoys and to be covered entirely, except for a single opening in front, just large enough to fire through, overlooking the stools. ”

“ The Dusky Duck, (Anas Obscura, Wilson.) is generally known along the sea coast of New Jersey and the neighboring country by the name of the Black Duck, being the most common and numerous of those of its tribe which inhabit the salt marshes. They are extremely shy during the day, and rise in great numbers on the most distant report of a gun, dispersing in every direction. In calm weather they fly so high as to be beyond the reach of shot but they may be brought down, by a concealed gunner in great numbers, when the wind blows hard. They are large heavy-bodied ducks, and generally esteemed. ”

“ Although my canoe was within six feet of the bird, it never moved, and it was only by the closest scrutiny that I detected its presence.
With a good silent dog playing in front of a blind these ducks in the early spring will come within short range, as will the black duck and gray goose. They have keen eyesight and will work in from a quarter of a mile to investigate the dog. The dog of best color to attract ducks is yellow or yellow and white. A pure white is better than a dark colored, which latter only appears to scare them away. ”

“ I may here state my belief, that the Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, American Widgeon, and Spoon-billed Duck, all breed in that country, as I observed them there late in May, when they were evidently paired. How far this fact may harmonize with the theories of writers respecting the migration of birds in general, is more than I can at present stop to consider. I have found the Black Duck breeding on lakes near the Mississippi, as far up as its confluence with the Ohio, as well as in Pennsylvania and New Jersey ”

“ As Ducks soon learn to keep well out of gunshot, they are more frightened than hurt.
Black Duck (Anas superciliosa) .—A fair number on Lake Violet, Milly Pool, and other sheets of water. No doubt pairs occasionally breed, as the young have been shot before they could fly.
Sparrow-Hawk (Accipter cirrhocephalus) .—Scattered pairs are to be found throughout the district, breeding in suitable haunts. Near Milly Pool I found three nests—the first a very well constructed nest in a beef-wood tree. All the material was entirely new and neatly put together. ”

“ We have the little Dipper or Fisher, that catches Fish so dexterously, the same as you have in the Islands of Scilly.
Duck and Mallard.
We have of the same Ducks, and Mallards with green Heads, in great Flocks. They are accounted the coarsest sort of our Water-Fowl.
Black Duck.
The black Duck is full as large as the other, and good Meat. She stays with us all the Summer, and breeds. These are made tame by some, and prove good Domesticks.
Summer Duck.
We have another Duck that stays with us all the Summer. She has a great Topping, is pied, and very beautiful. ”

“ To identify and classify these birds is a next to impossible task, for they are very suspicious and have chosen their winter quarters with a sound instinct for defensive strategy. The great majority of these birds are undoubtedly black duck, Anas rubripes, the most wary and suspicious of all wintering birds. All day long, back and forth over the dunes between the marsh and the ocean, these ducks are ever flying ”

“ The black duck is about the size of the bluewinged teal. their colour is a duskey black the breast and belley somewhat lighter than the other parts, or a dark brown. the legs stand longitudinally with the body, and the bird when on shore stands of cours very erect. the legs and feet are of a dark brown, the toes are four on each foot, a short one at the heel and three long toes in front, which are unconnected with a web. ”

“ Their indiscriminate appetite often renders them unfit for the table, unless fattened out of the reach of garbage and offensive matters. An English admiral used to resort to well-fattened rats for his fresh meat when at sea, and justified his taste by saying, they were more cleanly feeders than ducks, which were general favorites.
The most profitable for domestic use, is undoubtedly the common black duck. They lay profusely in the spring, when well fed, often producing 40 or 50 eggs, and sometimes a greater number, if kept from setting. ”

“ This duck lives in a wild state in the frozen regions of the North. It is whitish in color with a black head as well as black stomach and tail. The female, which is rather smaller than the male, is gray except for some brown spots under the body. Its food is composed of fish, which its untiring wing enables it to catch at long distances from the coast and well out to sea. On the water all day searching for fish, the eider-duck returns at night to some icy islet, a warm enough resting place for its purpose, well muffled as it is in eiderdown. ”

“ While this breed is not kept very widely at the present time, nevertheless it is an excellent market duck, dressing out into a very plump yellow carcass in spite of its black plumage which is a disadvantage in dressing. The color should be a lustrous greenish black throughout, being somewhat brighter in the drake than in the duck. The duck is more likely to show a brownish cast of plumage, particularly as she grows older. It is hard to hold good black color with age. Moreover, white or gray is apt to occur in the breast of females. ”

“ In the summer duck, which is a native of North America and Cuba, but occasionally wanders to Jamaica and the Bermudas, the colour of the upper-parts of the male in the breeding-dress is chiefly glossy green, with the cheeks purple, and black patches on the neck, and white stripes on both the head and neck. The wing-coverts are partly blue, the flanks are brown, black, and white, while the breast is chestnut spotted with white, and the rest of the under-parts white; the beak being a mixture of black, white, purplish, yellow, and scarlet, and the feet yellow. ”

“ It is not a large duck—rarely weighing over three pounds—and its plumage is far from equalling in beauty that of many other species. It has a red or chestnut-coloured head, a shining black breast, while the greater part of its body is of a greyish colour; but upon close examination this grey is found to be produced by a whitish ground minutely mottled with zig-zag black lines. I believe it is this mottling, combined with the colour, which somewhat resembles the appearance and texture of ship's canvass, that has given the bird its trivial name ”

“ Moreover, sub-varieties of each breed are coloured almost exactly like the wild duck, as I have seen with the largest and smallest breeds, namely Rouens and Call ducks, and, as Mr. Brent states (8/11. 'Poultry Chronicle' 1855 volume 3 page 512.) , is the case with Hook-billed ducks. This gentleman, as he informs me, crossed a white Aylesbury drake and a black Labrador duck, and some of the ducklings as they grew up assumed the plumage of the wild duck. ”

“ The Black Ducks generally appear in the sound of Long Island in September or October, but in very cold weather proceed southward; while those which breed in Texas, as I have been informed, remain there all the year. At their first arrival they betake themselves to the fresh-water ponds, and soon become fat, when they afford excellent 20 eating; but when the ponds are covered with ice, and they are forced to betake themselves to estuaries or inlets of the sea, their flesh becomes less juicy and assumes a fishy flavour. ”

“ Some dogs will dive a considerable distance after a duck, but a crippled Canvass-back or Black-head, will swim so far under the water, that they can rarely be caught by the dog; and it often has been observed, that the moment one of these ducks, if merely winged, reaches the surface, he passes under, and however calm, cannot be seen again. ”

“ Bill short compared to those of other mergansers, and black. It is not apt to be mistaken for any other duck, because of its small size and the large crest with which both sexes are adorned, that of the male being black with a large, white patch, and that of the female plain brown.
The male has the power of raising or lowering his crest; when excited he will at times repeatedly open and shut it like a fan. When at a distance on the water, the male might possibly be mistaken for the Buffle-head, as that species also has white on the head, but its back also is largely white. ”

“ During very severe winters, says Hallock, when every sheet of water is bound in with a thick covering of ice, the Black Ducks are driven to warm spring holes where the water never freezes. The approach of evening drives the Ducks from the bay or sound, where they have been sitting during the day, and they seek these open inland spots for food and shelter. ”

“ Should this fail to produce the desired effect of drawing the wild ducks near, the poor bird in the boat is pinched on the rump, when it immediately calls aloud; those at anchor respond, and the joint clamour attracts the travellers, who now check their onward speed, wheel several times over the spot, and at last alight. The gunner seldom waits long for a shot, and often kills fifteen or twenty of the Black Ducks at a single discharge of his huge piece, which is not unfrequently charged with as much as a quarter of a pound of powder and three quarters of a pound of shot! ”

“ When we get to Salt Lake I’ll show you the real thing.”
“Good,” I said. “How long will it take us to make Salt Lake?”
“About a week at this rate.”
“Let’s ride the passenger trains,” I said, anxious to take my first lessons in burglary.
“We’ll get a passenger train out of Cheyenne, kid, if we can duck Jeff Carr,” said Smiler. “Never heard of him? He’s a railroad bull and he’s ‘bum simple’—simple-minded on the subject of killing bums. If you run he’ll shoot you; if you stand he’ll get you six months, and he’d rather have you run.” ”

“ The tendency to vary in colour is a result of domestication in all species. It was from observing the annual change in the plumage of the domestic drake that the discovery was made that ducks differ from other birds in the manner of their moult. The period of the moult does not coincide in the drake and duck; and this discrepancy in the sexes has caused ducks to differ in their breeding habits from all other birds. Thus, in most birds, male and female share the labours of incubation, and of rearing and protecting the young ”

“ Its flesh is next in delicacy to that of the teal, and is held in estimation at table. It is much more rare in the northern than in the southern counties, and off the coast of Cornwall thirty-seven birds have been bagged at one shot. The pintail breeds but rarely in England.
We now come to the diving ducks. Speaking generally, the "surface" ducks haunt fresh water; diving ducks the sea. The most prominent of these are the scaup; common, velvet, and surf scoters; the pochard, golden-eye, and tufted duck.
The inland sportsman or decoy-man knows little of the diving ducks. ”

“ The wild ducks splattered and quacked as they paddled busily hither and thither, visiting each little bay and reed-clump at the water's edge. Sometimes, surrendering themselves wholly to sport and play, they formed little groups of two or three; and now one group, and then another, would race, half-swimming, half-flying, from bank to bank or from the rock to the salmon “hover” at the lower end of the pool. The otter remembered her experience with the dabchick, and believed that to capture a full-grown duck would tax her utmost strength and cause a general alarm. ”

“ Now I am uncommonly fond of ducks, both roasted and roasting and roystering; and it is a fine sight to behold them walk, poddling one after other, with their toes out, like soldiers drilling, and their little eyes cocked all ways at once, and the way that they dib with their bills, and dabble, and throw up their heads and enjoy something, and then tell the others about it. Therefore I knew at once, by the way they were carrying on, that there must be something or other gone wholly amiss in the duck-world. Sister Annie perceived it too, but with a greater quickness ”