SANCTUARY 265 



You would have to clip their wing-feathers, but 

 that doesn't hurt the Ducks. They would live 

 happily enough in a marsh, as happily as Geese 

 do in farm yards or Swans on artificial lakes." 



''You mean ducks like the Canvasback?" Shan 

 asked eagerly. 



The Feather Man shook his head. 



"No," he said; "I shouldn't advise the Canvas- 

 back. Remember that though he's a good deal 

 like the River Ducks and is a dabbler, sometimes, 

 he's a sea duck as well and wouldn't thrive in 

 domestication. At least, not as well as Mallards 

 or Black Duck. The Mallard, you know, was the 

 wild breed from Avhich nearly all our domestic 

 ducks have come. It's a ground-breeder. It's 

 easy to feed, because it will eat grain. In the 

 wild state, about four-fifths of the food of a Mal- 

 lard is vegetable, and the rest consists of water- 

 beetles and the larvae of big insects, such as dragon- 

 flies. Pond-weed, water-lily and wild rice are its 

 favorite foods, and wild celery is greatly relished. 

 All these will grow readily in the marshy ground 

 below your cabin. You ought to grow some bar- 

 ley and rye and perhaps some rice. Begin in a 

 small way and build up. How does that idea ap- 

 peal to you I" 



