S6o 



THE BOOK OF POULTRY. 



old ; and such weights, if of large frame, are 

 quite large enough to breed from. The heavy 

 weights of lo lbs. and 9 lbs. seen at exhibitions 

 are obtained by forcing diet; and birds once fed 

 and fattened up to it are practically worthless 

 as breeding stock afterwards. As if that were 

 not enough, both these and other ducks are 

 often crammed before judging, or tempted to 

 eat a pound or more of raw sausages, or meat ; 

 or some exhibitors even provide a quantity of 

 live worms ! Some ducks have been killed in 

 this way, but a moderate quantity of uncooked 

 sausage, or something of the same kind, often 

 seems to pick up the birds and make them look 

 better in every way after the journey. 



The bills of Aylesbury ducks kept for 

 exhibition require much care. If a bird with the 

 best of bills is allowed to grub about in filthy 

 places after the manner of its tribe, and be shut 

 up at night uncleansed, a very few days will dis- 

 colour it ; and a very few days of hot sun will 

 tan it perceptibly yellow. Show birds should 

 only be let out for an hour or two in morning 

 and evening, though the breeders must have 

 liberty even at the cost of tanning their bills, or 

 the eggs will fail. The houses must be kept 

 clean, and a pan of sharp white gravel and 

 water always kept in it, with some wheat to 

 induce them to scour in it freely. A young bill 

 is thus kept in order, but with age a coarse, 

 horny substance forms upon it, especially on a 

 bird with much liberty. Before exhibition this 

 is very carefully pared away with a sharp knife, 

 taking care not to trench upon the inner skin or 

 make it bleed. The bill is then smoothed with 

 fine sandpaper, and the duck kept in a darkish 

 house or pen for two or three weeks, with the 

 gravel and wheat above mentioned. This will 

 bring out a really good bill nearly as fresh as 

 ever. The bills of other varieties sometimes 

 need similar attention, though in less degree. 



The special economic merits of the Aylesbury 

 duck are its size, its hardiness in all climates, and 

 above all its rapid and early maturity. Owing 

 to this quality of quick and early growth, many 

 are marketed at eight weeks old, and some 

 weigh as much as 4 lbs. at that age. The white 

 feathers are also of more value than coloured 

 ones. The colour of the eggs varies. Most 

 generally they are rather long and pointed, and 

 white, of a peculiarly pearly or transparent 

 quality, but others are green, and the same duck 

 will even lay eggs of one colour and then of the 

 other. Cream-coloured eggs are also not at all 

 uncommon. The eggs are thought by many, 

 more delicate in flavour than those of other 

 breeds. The ducklings when hatched are a 

 bright primrose yellow. 



The Rouen duck closely resembles the wild 

 Mallard in its plumage, except that this has been 

 bred darker and richer. It is very probably cor- 

 rectly named from the city of Rouen, 

 Rouen Ducks, as ducks more or less resembling it in 

 colour are still plentiful in Normandy, 

 though not bred to such a precise standard of 

 feather, or so massive. In general conformation 

 the Rouen is somewhat shorter and deeper in 

 body than the Aylesbury, and considerably deeper 

 in keel. The bill should be long and broad and 

 straight,as in that breed, that of the duck, however, 

 being rather shorter than the drake's. The drake's 

 bill should be a greenish yellow with a black 

 bean at the tip, lead-colour amounting to dis- 

 qualification, and too bright a yellow being also 

 disliked. The head is a rich green, glossed with 

 purple, which extends down the neck to a 

 collar of pure white ; this does not quite meet at 

 the back, but must be clear and distinct so far as 

 it goes. The breast is a rich deep claret extend- 

 ing down well below the water-line, and free 

 from the fine white lacing which is called by 

 breeders " chain armour." There it joins the 

 delicate French grey of the flanks and under 

 parts, which should extend to under the tail, any 

 pure white under the tail being a great objection. 

 This French grey is minutely pencilled all over 

 with fine black lines. The back is a rich 

 greenish black, the curls in the tail being a dark 

 green. The wings are a greyish brown, with a 

 " ribbon-mark " across them, which must be a 

 very bright and distinct blue, edged on both 

 sides with black and white bands. The flights 

 are grey and brown, white in a flight-feather 

 being highly objectionable. The drake's legs 

 are a rich orange. 



The bill of the duck is of an orange colour, 

 with a splash of nearly black upon it, two-thirds 

 down from the head, but not reaching the base, 

 tip, or sides ; this colour, however, changes 

 during the laying season to a dirty brown, and 

 sometimes they become almost black all over. 

 The head is brown, with two distinct shaded 

 lines on each side, running from the eye down 

 to the darker part of the neck. The breast is 

 brown, pencilled over with dark brown ; the 

 back pencilled with very dark brown, or Ijlack 

 glossed with green upon a brown ground. This 

 pencilling must be very distinct, though judges 

 differ somewhat as to the shade of brown which 

 should form the ground-work. The wing has 

 a ribbon-mark, as in the drake, and the legs are 

 like his, orange, but of a dusky shade. 



Rouen ducklings when hatched are brown 

 and yellow. When first feathered the drake 

 has the same plumage as the duck, but at three 

 months or soon after begins to moult into the 



