Lots of us are looking forward to spring right now; Mike Curry and his colleagues at the National Geographic Society are looking for the return of a mallard hen. The hen laid 10 eggs and hatched them outside the office of the National Geographic Society last year. Four of the hatchlings survived despite the many predators in the city. They crossed at a crosswalk in parade formation and went down 16th Street to Lafayette Square. Mike and three other people from the National Geographic Society brought them food and took care of them, aided by an organization called City Wildlife.
The mother hen learned to recognize the three people who came to feed her and the ducklings; she would waddle to meet them. Mike and his colleagues watched the birds grow up and leave; now they hope that they may come back this spring. Mike became interested and did a lot of research about ducks, learning among other things that it is illegal to move them over state lines.
— Lois Kelso Hunt