If, in a group of ducks the drakes are seen to be restlessly swimming back and forth or weaving their way in an out through the crowd as if they were at an afternoon tea, the case looks promising...one can often tell at a glance whether courtship is in progress or not.
"The Courtship of the Merganser, Mallard, Black Duck, Baldpate, Wood Duck and Bufflehead," by Charles W. Townsend (1916). Click here to read the book online, or download it free, from the Internet Archive.
Posted yesterday on Alphadello.
