YOUNG DUCKS ON REARING FIELD 61 



It was not long before my ducks discovered the 

 kitchen garden, which was some distance from the 

 house and from the yard where they were fed. They 

 daily made excursions to the garden, usually on foot, 

 sometimes on the wing, and in order to learn what they 

 liked I permitted them to do considerable damage. They 

 were fond of lettuce. This was the first plant they en- 

 countered as they entered the garden, and I do not recall 

 anything which they did not sample liberally. They 

 were very fond of cucumbers, and in one afternoon they 

 devoured several hundred young cucumbers, which were 

 to have been made into pickles the following day. They 

 destroyed watermelons, which were nearly ripe, cutting 

 them in two with their bills and greedily devouring the 

 fruit, eating very close to the rind. Several ducks' heads 

 were crowded into the big half melons at one time, and 

 there was soon nothing left save a thin green shell. 



As the ducks passed the sweet corn they jumped up 

 and plucked at the ears, sometimes taking a little corn 

 from a cob and passing on and at other times pulling 

 down a stalk and eating the young grain more freely. 

 Like chickens, they destroyed more than they ate. 



When I sent my setters out after the ducks the dogs 

 often made a detour and, circling about, pointed the 

 ducks from the side of the garden farthest from the 

 house. As the dogs drew up close, the ducks would take 

 wing and fly to the kitchen door, where they knew they 

 were safe. These ducks, of course, were too tame, but 

 they seemed to be much wilder when away from home. 

 They made excursions to a bay a mile from the house 

 and often were gone for hours. 



I have no doubt that a patch of cucumbers and melons 



