i8o PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



breeding-pond, keep a choice selected stock, and multiply 

 these admirable native species. The young will breed even 

 more readily than did their parents, and with a few gener- 

 ations the problem will be solved and a great need be met. 

 Valuable species may be saved from extermination. 



Species in Danger. A case in point is the exquisite wood 

 duck. A decade ago it was characterized in a government 

 publication as a "vanishing game-bird." Now it is being 

 reared artificially by thousands, and in some localities it is 

 again becoming abundant. Would that this could be said 

 of all our waterfowl! The Labrador duck has long since 

 become extinct. The species which at present may be most 

 in danger, perhaps, is the pretty little bufflehead, or ''butter- 

 ball." Around Lake Winnipegosis, Manitoba, only a few 

 years ago they were said to breed commonly. Though the 

 country still remains wild, the duck is now almost unknown 

 there, and I was not able to discover a single one. It is still 

 said to be numerous west of the Rocky Mountains, but 

 in the middle and eastern sections it has waned notably. 



Breeding for Profit. It is a very laudable sort of enter- 

 prise for people to breed wild ducks for profit, particularly 

 to be able to sell hand-reared waterfowl of all possible kinds 

 for breeding-stock. Very many people will wish to be able 

 to secure such stock, and for a long time prices will be high 

 enough to make this very profitable. These species are so 

 hardy and free from • epidemics that there is not the risk 

 found in breeding the gaUinaceous species. 



Public Responsibility. Owners of large estates suitably 

 located would find it most fascinating, as well as of pubUc 

 service, to breed various waterfowl, and, by the methods 

 described, liberate numbers of the young which they raise, 

 to breed in the wild state and help to restore these valuable 

 species. Every State should have at least one suitable 



