WILD DUCKS 125 



are polygamous have in them more or less of the domesticated 

 strain. Some English records, according to Mr. Walcott, 

 indicate that other species also of wild ducks tend to become 

 polygamous in captivity. 



Polygamy Abnormal. Henry Cook and his son-in-law, 

 A. N. Frey, who have for years kept wild ducks of more than 

 thirty kinds, including mallards caught wild, and have bred 

 about twenty species of these, unite in testifying that they 

 have never observed a single case of true polygamy. Mr. 

 Frey writes me: "We have both failed to notice this habit 

 (polygamy) even among the mallards (birds caught wild). 

 Like all wild ducks they are strictly monogamous. It may 

 be that the trait you mention could be developed in our own 

 mallards under protracted domestication, since it obviously 

 exists in their distant relatives, the barnyard mallards. On 

 the other hand, a hybridizing tendency, such as a cinnamon 

 teal leaving its mate for a wood duck, and females in want 

 of males of their own species seeking the male of another, 

 only to be refused, attracted our attention. In short, we 

 have not noticed one instance of polygamy." 



Receiving Stock. All waterfowl stock will come either 

 pinioned or wing-clipped, so there is nothing further to do 

 in that line. The one caution to emphasize is that for at 

 least a week or ten days after shipment fowl should not be 

 turned out on the water. The plumage is then dried out and 

 disarranged, and it takes some time to restore it to the nor- 

 mal waterproof condition. If allowed the usual aquatic 

 privileges at first, the birds are liable to become bedraggled 

 and chilled. In case they arrive in poor condition, they 

 should be kept from water for a longer period, sometimes 

 three weeks, until restored. Give the new stock at first 

 some extra nourishing food — some mash, scraps of raw meat, 

 or green food. If they need to clean themselves at first, 



