204 THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. 



kept in pens on dry straw, with but little water, and were fed with 

 buckwheat and canary seed. Mr. Van Heckn formerly bred Carolina and 

 Mandarin Ducks, but gave it up as being too troublesome. The latter 

 birds were however, Mr. Taylor was informed, very easy to rear, as easy 

 as chickens, provided ants eggs could be procured for them. 



Decoys in France. 



Though I have frequently heard Decoys alluded to as existing in 

 France, yet I have never been able to obtain any reliable information 

 thereon. 



. Samuel Maunder in his " Treasury of Natural History," published in 

 1846, concludes a long and fairly accurate description of Duck Decoys as 

 follows : — 



"In Picardy in France vast numbers of Ducks are taken in Decoys 

 and sold in the Paris market, where in one season 30,000 francs have been 

 paid for the produce of the small lake of St. Lambert." 



FINIS. 



