I70 DUCK 



less at her warning notes. Once arrived at the water they are 

 comparatively free from harm, though other perils present them- 

 selves from its inmates in the form of Pike and other voracious 

 fishes, which seize the Ducklings as they disport in quest of insects 

 on the surface or dive beneath it. Throughout the summer the 

 Duck continues her care unremittingly, until the young are full 

 grown and feathered ; but it is no part of the Mallard's duty to 

 look after his offspring, and indeed he speedily becomes incapable 

 of helping them, for towards the end of May he begins to undergo 

 an additional MouLT, loses the power of flight, and does not regain 

 his full plumage till autumn. About harvest-time the young are 

 well able to shift for themselves, and then resort to the corn-fields 

 at evening, where they fatten on the scattered grain. Towards the 

 end of September or beginning of October both old and young 

 unite in large flocks and betake themselves to the larger waters, 

 many of which are fitted with the ingenious appliances for catching 

 them known as decoys.^ These are worked on all favourable 

 occasions during the winter, but the numbers taken vary greatly — 

 success depending so much on the state of the Aveather. If long- 

 continued frost prevail, most of the Ducks resort to the estuaries 

 and tidal rivers, or even leave these islands almost entirely. Soon 

 after Christmas the return-flight commences, and then begins anew 

 the course of life already described. 



The domestication of the Duck is doubtless very ancient, but 

 evidence on this head is exceedingly imperfect. Several distinct 

 breeds have been established, of which the most esteemed from 

 an economical point of view are those known as the Rouen and 

 Aylesbury ; but perhaps the most singular deviation from the 

 normal form is the so-called Penguin-Duck, in which the bird 

 assumes an upright attitude and its wings are much diminished in 

 size. A remarkable breed also is that often named (though quite 

 fancifully) the " Buenos-Ajnres " Duck, wherein the whole plumage 

 is of a deep black, beautifully glossed or bronzed. But this satura- 

 tion, so to speak, of colour only lasts in the individual for a few 

 years, and as the birds grow older they become mottled with 



^ The origin of this word has given rise to a good deal of speculation, but it 

 seems to be simply an abbreviation of the Dutch "cende-coy " — that is to say, duck- 

 cage or netted enclosure— and it is admitted that the use of Decoys was introduced 

 into this country from Holland (Spelman's Posthumoius Works, ed. Gibson, ii. 

 p. 153). If this view be correct, we may justifiably speak of a Decoy-Duck, but 

 the expression Duck-Decoy is an intolerable pleonasm. Those who are curious 

 as to the mode of using Decoys should consult Mr. Southwell's edition of 

 Lubbock's Fauna of Norfolk (1879), and Sir R. Payne-Gallway's Book of Duck- 

 Decoys (1886), which last is an almost exhaustive treatise on the subject. The 

 ordinary descriptions and even figures of a Decoy met with in popular works are 

 almost invariably misleading — the writers having no knowledge of the practice 

 followed, and misrepresenting it accordingly. 



