170 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 Moutt, 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 weather. 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-Ayres” 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 
1 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 Posthumous 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. 
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