DUCK

CHAPTER VIII.

TRIBE MANAGEMENT OF CHINESE MODE. WILD-DUCKS BUILDING IN TREES-AFFECTION OF.EIDER DUCKS-HOW CAUGHT. - DUCK SHOOTERS.DANGER ATTENDING DECOYS.

It would lead us far beyond our limits to notice all the Duck tribes, which are third on the generic list of this division; a few particulars must suffice. Much that has been said upon the treatment of Geese, applies equally to Ducks, which, under judicious management, might be made a source of great profit to the cottager; and we are assured, on the authority of a practical rural economist, that water is by no means indispenable; so far from it indeed, that instead of being absolutely necessary, it is often injurious to the young, and that, in fact, they should never be suffered to swim till more than a month old; that, instead of allowing young Ducks to go out in the morning to eat slugs and worms, they should be kept up, since this food, notwithstanding their partiality for it, is injurious; and that grass, corn, white cabbages and lettuces, cut when half ripe, and flung down in the haulm or stalk, will make the finest Ducks for the market and the table. When young, they should be fed upon barley-meal, or curds, and kept in a warm place in the nighttime.

By attention and care, much more, we are persuaded, may be done in the general management, as well as improvement, of our domestic birds. We

have been assured, for example, that the people in some parts of Buckinghamshire derive considerable profit from their peculiar skill in breeding and rearing Ducks. They contrive to reverse the order of nature, and, by a restriction of food, or other means, prevent them from laying till October or November. Some weeks before the time they wish them to lay, they feed them with stimulating food; and when the eggs are ready, they are put under a hen, who is obliged frequently to continue on the nest, till three successive broods have been hatched. When the young Ducks leave the shell, they are placed near a fire, and nursed with great care. By these means many Ducklings are sent at Christmas to London, where they meet with ready purchasers.

Of all people in the world, the Chinese are said to be the most skilled in the management of poultry, particularly of Ducks, many people at Canton earning their livelihood merely by bringing them up; some buy the eggs and trade with them, others hatch them in ovens, and others attend on the young ones. The following is their plan:They lay an iron-plate on a brick hearth; on this they place a box full of sand, half a foot high, in which the eggs are put in rows; the box they cover with a sieve, over which they hang a mat. To heat them, they make use of a particular sort of wood, which burns slowly and uniformly; at first, they give them but little warmth, increasing it gradually, and it becomes a strong heat by the time the eggs are hatched. If the heat is increased too much, the young Ducks are hatched too soon, and in that case they generally die in three or four days. The

hatched young ones are sold to those who bring them up; and these try, in the following manner, whether they are hatched too soon or not. They take up the little Ducks by the bill, and let their bodies hang down; if they sprawl and extend their feet and wings, they are hatched in due time; but if they have had too much heat, they hang without struggling. The latter often live till they are put to the water, which is generally eight days after they are hatched, this turns them giddy; they get cramped, throw themselves on their backs, and die in convulsions. They are carefully fed with boiled rice, mixed up with herbs and little fish, chopped small. When they are older, they are removed into a larger floating-pen, called a sampane, which has a broad bottom of bamboo, with a gallery round, above the river, and a bridge declining towards the water. An old and experienced step-mother is provided to lead them down, and attend them when feeding: these old birds are so well trained, that at the given signal in the evening, they return in the utmost haste with their young broods. This signal is a whistle, on the sound of which the whole flock sets itself in motion, waddling in regular order towards their boat. The first Duck that enters is rewarded with some favourite food; the last is whipped as an idler: so that it is a comical sight to see the last birds, as if knowing what will happen to the last of all, making efforts to fly over the backs of others, and get on board the boat in time to escape punishment.

We should be surprised to see our domestic Ducks perch amongst the branches of trees, adjacent to their roosting-places, and there pass the night; but

though this seems impracticable for our species, there are, nevertheless, many others of the wild sort, that not only roost perching, but rear their young in trees. Captain Cook was surprised to find the Whistling-Ducks doing so, near Endeavour River in New Holland; and in various parts of the world, similar nests are found in these unexpected situa tions.

In America, the Anas sponsa, or Summer-Duck, builds in the hollows of trees, at a considerable height from the ground, from which the young ones, soon after they are hatched, descend and make the best of their way to the water. The Wood-Ducks, also an American species, are continually to be seen, during the breeding-season, flying between the upper parts of the Mississippi and the woods where they build. Our common Wild-Duck, in a similar manner (though according to the general habit of those birds whose young leave the nest as soon as hatched, she generally deposits her eggs upon the ground), at times departs from this practice, and follows the example of the above foreign species.

In Sussex, a nest was found in an oak tree, fiveand-twenty feet from the ground; the old bird was sitting upon nine eggs, supported by some small twigs, laid crossways.

In Derbyshire, a gentleman's game-keeper observed a Wild-Duck fly out of a large oak, in which the year preceding had been a Hawk's nest. On examination, she was found to have laid two eggs in the old nest, completely repaired.

Another instance occurred at Madeley, in Staffordshire. In this case, the Wild-Duck took possession

of a Rook's nest at the top of an oak tree. The Drake was also seen to perch on a bough near her, and occasionally in her absence sat on the nest.

In the preserves of the Zoological Gardens, in the Regent's-park, London, we saw the nest of a Wild-Duck on the roof of a thatched cottage by the water side. The keeper was ordered to keep a good look-out, in order to see how the young ones would contrive to reach the ground; but they eluded his watchfulness by disappearing one morning, when he and his family were absent at church. It is, indeed, difficult to account for the exceptions to the accustomed habits of Wild-Ducks: we should suppose, that naturally they would prefer a convenient spot close to the water, and in such places their nests are usually built. Once, indeed, to our surprise, a nest was found in a patch of high grass, within a few feet of the spot where a boat was drawn up; and either so closely had the Duck sat, or so cleverly had she timed her visits to and fro, that it was not till after some time discovered by a carpenter who had been for three or four days on the spot, repairing the boat. But, from several other circumstances coming under our observation, we have reason to believe that they often build at considerable distances from the waters intended to be the permanent nursery for their brood. About a mile above this very sheet of water on which the boat was repairing, there is a hill covered with heather, fern, and plantations; and more than once at early dawn, about four o'clock, in June, broods of little dark Wild-Ducklings, just hatched, have been seen trotting down the road, leading from the hill to