Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1919-10-18

Oh! Your frisky old mallardS.
You have cast a shadow upon the
wishes, hopes and anticipations of
many expectant and ambitious
hunters. On many occasions have
you made those out of killing dis
lance circles, yet lowering about,
keeping the hunter digging a little
deeper into the mud, in a vain at
tempt to evade your vision and in
duce you to drop in on an in
vestigating tour of his decoys. You
have rewarded the hunter with a
final quack, which correctly inter
preted, meant goodbye" as you
hit the trail for more congenial To-
calities.
In high-brow circles you are call
ed as-platyrhynchos. That is not
the name justly applied to you by
the disappointed sportsman as you
disappear upon the horizon. Mr.
Mallard, you are admittedly good
locker, with your shimmering,
brown green head, olive green bill,
orange legs, with blended stripes
of blue and green on wings. Your
wife is also most seductive with
her autumn shadings in plumage,
which so effectively blend with ma
lures surroundings. You are the
congener of domestic ducks, having
a strong tendency to a nasal twang
when in conversation. You are of
the "puddler" species, with many
"tie-up" habits. To avert the pos
sibility of drowning, you feed In
shallow water, combining your eff
forts to mollusks, grass roots and
the many tender aquatic plants. not
being adverse to a crop full of
farmers corn.
You rank for intelligence, far
above the average duck and your
bump of caution is abnormally de-
veloped. Your fight is graceful,
rapid and frequently very decep-
tive to the sportsman. Your do
mestic habits are not above ques-
ton, you belong not in the category
with Caesars wife, who was above
suspicion or reproach. Many by
birds have resulted from your fall
ure to be constant and keep. your
own home fires burning exclusive
ly. On one occasion the writer
killed a bird with the green head
of the mallard and the long striped
and pointed tail of a sprig. Not cir
cumstantial, but direct evidence
which would convict you in any
domestic court in duckdom.
With a length of about % inches
over all, weighing from two to three
pounds, you make a most attractive
aerial target, easy to negotiate with
as Is frequently evidenced by the
splash! splash! following a success
full double.
You have a reputation for So
and congenial disposition,
always congregating when the OPP
presents. You are vain,
with a penchant to
Willing on all occa-
sions to drift out on a preening or
dress parade swim, that your lady
friends may at least enjoy one real
treat while you demonstrate to
them the Australian crawl stroke.
with an occasional
dash of the shimmey dance.
Billy Crosby, Fred Gilbert and
the writer were house guests of
Rolla o. Heikes, at his cottage on
st. Clair flats near Pearl Beach,
Mich. We had arranged a wit
matching contest with vast aggre-
cation of mallards which were con-
gregated on Anchor bay, reached
a dredged ditch running
from the north channel of st. Clair
river. The snow was falling in a
light mist, blowing ahead of
strong wind; ideal conditions for
a duck hunt The bay was COW
cred with migratory birds, which
evinced that restless feeling usually
seen before they start south. With
out firing a shot we drove them out.
setting our decoys of
adjacent points. Our failure to