THE OOLOGIST 



29 



Domestication of North American Wild 

 Fowl Continued. 



The writer has now in liis enclos- 

 ures, seven different varieties of wikl 

 geese, and fourteen of wild ducks, con- 

 fined to those represented in the A. 

 O. U. list, and finds the Mallard, the 

 Wood Duck, the Dusky Duck and the 

 Red Head to be the most tractable; 

 and the Baldpate, the Sprig, and Teal 

 to be the wildest. 



Among the geese the Canada Goose 

 is by far the easiest bird tamed. It is 

 no special trouble to domesticate Can- 

 ada Geese until they remain on your 

 place and rear their young, in practi- 

 cally the same manner that tame 

 geese will. 



In commencing experiments of this 

 character, it is always best to pinion 

 your birds; that is, tie a string around 

 the outer joint of the wing just outside 

 of the joint proper, but not so as to 

 encircle the thumb joint or bastard 

 wing. Draw this string as tight as 

 you can; then take a pair of very 

 sharp shears or tree pruners and clip 

 off the outer joint of the wing just 

 outside of the string. Hold your bird 

 in your hand until you are certain 

 that the string has compressed the 

 muscles, arteries and veins to such 

 an extent that your bird is not bleed- 

 ing. If you find this to be the case, 

 place him on the ground, and let him 

 go. From that time on he will take 

 care of himself. Do not attempt to 

 pinion a freshly trapped or caught 

 bird. Do not pinion him until after 

 he has been in confinement a consid- 

 erable period of time; that is, long 

 enough for him to learn to eat and to 

 be satisfied with the food he gets in 

 confinement. This is imperative; oth- 

 erwise your bird will not eat and will 

 die. Until such times as he is ready 

 to be pinioned, keep him from flying 

 by clipping the feathers closely from 



one wing, and do not pinion your birds 

 when it is extremely cold nor when it 

 is very warm, nor when they are 

 moulting, or you will lose them. 



The best way to get along this line 

 is to procure from the hunters of your 

 vicinity, such wounded or wing tip- 

 ped birds as they may come into i)os- 

 session of. 



Messrs. Wenz & Mackensen of 

 Yardley, Pennsylvania have kindly 

 loaned to us for the purpose of this 

 issue, six of the plates herewith pre- 

 sented, viz: The plate showing the 

 Australian, Black, European, Mute and 

 American Whistling Swans; the plate 

 showing the Egyptian, Chinese, Toul- 

 ouse, Emden Geese, and the Mallard, 

 Crested, Indian Runner, Ducks, and 

 Cranes, the plate showing the drove of 

 Canada Geese; the plate showing the 

 Wood, Mandarin, Black, Redhead, 

 Pintail, Baldpate, Gray Call, White 

 Call and Mallard Ducks, as well as the 

 two small plates showing the Chinese 

 Mandarin and the Wood Duck. 



The half tones herewith numbered 

 Plates 13 and 14 are from views tak- 

 en in our own duck yard at Lacon, Il- 

 linois. 



We should like very much to see 

 our readers encourage the propogation 

 of North American Wild Fowl, believ- 

 ing that that is the ultimate solution 

 of the question of preventing our vast 

 flocks of wild fowl from ultimately be- 

 coming totally extinct. 



Wanted. 



One pair each of the following live 

 birds in good condition. (Wing tipped 

 birds would be satisfactory) : 



Florida. Mottled Cinnamon 



Teal, Shoveller, Canvas Back, Ameri- 

 can Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Ring-neck- 

 e<l i^merican Gchlen Eye, Barrow's 

 Golden Eye, Bufflehead, Old Squaw, 

 Harlequin, Ruddy, and Masked Ducks. 



Also Lessei- Snow, Bhie, Ross's 

 Snow. American White-fronted, Bean, 

 White-cheeked. Cackling, and Emper- 

 or Geese. 



For which I will pay 41ie highest 

 market price. ^^ 



R. yi. Barnes. Lacon. 111. 



