PROPAGATION 53 



corn. Drop the food in water six inches to a foot in depth. Chopped 

 raw meat or fish should be given occasionally, as also green vegetable 

 matter of almost any sort, such as grass cuttings and cabbage. Grit, 

 such as marble dust mixed with charcoal, and ground oyster shells, 

 are indispensable to good health. In early spring a richer food is 

 required to stimulate egg-laying. A mash meets this need; for 

 instance, Spratt's duck meal, or a mixture of cornmeal, bran, mid- 

 dlings, and crissel. Ducklings should be given food for the first time 

 when they are one day old. This food should consist of finely ground 

 hard-boiled egg mixed with cracker-crumbs or rolled oats, and a little 

 coarse grit or sand. At first, feeding should be frequent but in small 

 quantities. After the second day a ''duck-meal," either of the com- 

 mercial variety or mixed according to an accepted formula should be 

 provided. Vegetable food is important from the first, and insect food 

 of some form should not be omitted. 



Rearing. — The eggs of some wild fowl can be hatched by the 

 parents themselves, but in the case of the wilder species better success 

 is attained by hatching them in incubators or under bantams. The 

 eggs of the Mallard should be collected systematically each day; but 

 those of the other species, after the clutch is completed. When the 

 eggs are removed regularly, the number produced by the Mallard is 

 increased from about ten, the average clutch, to about forty. Duck- 

 lings should be placed with bantam mothers in small pens on grass 

 and should not be allowed near large bodies of water until they are 

 well feathered, although pure water should be available for drinking 

 purposes. 



Pinioning. — Wild birds may be rendered incapable of flight either 

 by wing-clipping or pinioning. The former operation consists in 

 merely snipping off the primary flight feathers near their bases, and 

 of course must be repeated after each molt. This method is preferable 

 for females of the less easily tamed species. In pinioning, the operator 

 should be provided with a pair of gardener's pruning shears and 

 some powdered tannic acid or boric acid. Two of the innermost 

 primary wdng quills should be pulled out, as also the nearby smaller 

 feathers. A cord should be tightly tied around the end joint of the 

 wing w^ell up under the little thumb or "bastard wing." With the 

 shears the bone can then be snipped off cleanly and evenly within a 

 quarter of an inch beyond the ligature. An application of the tannic 

 or boric acid will check the bleeding. After the operation the bird 

 may be liberated at once. The pinioning of ducklings is a simple 

 affair, almost bloodless, and may be done when they are four to seven 

 days old. A bird successfully pinioned is permanently flightless. 



