Ducks at a Distance

A duck need not call to announce itself: goldeneyes whistle through the air, wood ducks swish, and canvasbacks rush past with a steady wingbeat. Can you tell which one is overhead before the flock is gone?

Across North America’s marshes, rivers, lakes, and coastal bays, waterfowl pass through the fall and winter skies in shifting flocks. Bob Hines’s guide turns a fleeting glimpse into a field of clues: silhouette, wing patches, flight patterns, habitat—and even the sound of wings. A compact teal flock twists as one; a mallard’s shape and familiar quack offer a different set of signs. Learning to recognize the birds is more than a pleasure: it can help hunters spare scarce or protected species. With the light changing and the birds on the move, what will you notice first?

With centuries of literature, it's inevitable that some will fall through the cracks. We hunt down public domain works and restore them so they're not lost to the world.

Who are we? We're Cairn Press. Our background is in design, publishing, typography, and technology. These skills fuel our mission to create the highest quality Public Domain eBooks available online, at an affordable price. We give them the treatment they deserve; our proprietary process restores books for a better overall user experience in design, readability, and e-reader compatibility.