BREEDING WILDFOWL. 535 



to have such things about him. Few know how beau- 

 tiful a living wood duck or teal is, or how one gets to 

 love them and have them about. What if a green- 

 winged teal, the smallest of all ducks, is no larger than 

 a pigeon ; the question is not one of meat as it was with 

 primitive man, when he domesticated the mallard. I 

 have spent more dollars than I could well afford on this 

 fancy, and if wealthy would prefer it as a "fad" to any 

 other. A few surplus birds were sold, but not enough 

 to pay for many wild birds which came dead, when 

 the only thing left for me was the express charges. 

 Then there was food, loss by minks and other vermin ; 

 but I never faltered. 



When you get a wild bird never clip a wing, unless 

 as a preliminary to pinioning shortly after. When 

 you cut the stiff quills of the primaries, they will split 

 in time and become like "hang nails" on a human hand ; 

 they split up into the flesh and become sore, do not 

 shed, and sometimes cause blood poisoning. If they 

 shed and new feathers grow, the bird must be caught 

 and clipped twice a year, with a chance of -ts escape. 



A bird once pinioned needs no more attention, and is 

 prevented from flying while it lives. Only one wing 

 must be pinioned, so that an attempt to fly turns it 

 over on the ground. Lay the bird on its back, wrap a 

 towel about one wing and the body, leaving the other 

 free. Have your assistant, who holds the bird, press 

 his thumb on the main artery where he feels the pulse, 

 at the point marked P in the illustration. Pluck the 

 fine feathers between the joint A and the line C, and 



