128 PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



feed. Components used by various workers are wheat, 

 barley, buckwheat, whole or cracked corn, kaffir corn, whole 

 oats, sunflower seed. It is not well to feed corn very heavily, 

 but more can be given in cold weather, especiaUy whole 

 corn at night. Grit should always be on hand, mixed with a 

 little ground charcoal, and also ground oyster shells. 



Care in Feeding. Care should be taken to give only as 

 much grain as will be eaten up clean when fed. Letting 

 grain lie around is a very bad practice. It sours and is bad 

 for the ducks, causing disease, and draws rats from near and 

 far. Cracked corn sours especially soon, and should be fed 

 in moderation and kept cleaned up. A good practice is to 

 feed the ducks in shallow water near shore, at a depth of not 

 over a foot and a half, where the shoal-water ducks can 

 reach it by tipping up, and any remaining grain is visible 

 to the keeper. Though rats can get grain from under water 

 to some extent, a little there is not so conspicuous as on 

 shore, and will not attract them so much. It is believed, 

 moreover, that it is weU for the health of ducks to get water 

 with their food. 



Following are some receipts for feeding, or hints from 

 various sources, which give a good idea of methods in general 

 use: 



Receipts. New York Zoological Park: Wheat, barley, 

 buckwheat, and kafhr com or ordinary cracked com, mixed 

 in even parts. A Uttle chopped raw meat and fish are used, 

 three times a week, especially in severe winter weather or at 

 the beginning of breeding. For the meat, any sort handy 

 can be used, such as liver or other inwards, or, on game pre- 

 serves, ground-up bodies, such as rabbits, hares, cats, or 

 captured vermin. On the other alternate days, at such times 

 a mash of Spratt's wild-duck meal is used. In winter they 

 also give cabbage or cooked beet every day if they have 



