RAISING DUCKS. 233 



rapidly and fattens easily. The common tarne duck is 

 supposed to have descended from the wild Mallard duck, 

 Anas boshas, common to this country and Europe. It 

 breeds freely with this species, and also with several 

 other species of wild duck ; in some cases the progeny 

 is capable of reproduction of its kind, in others mule- 

 birds or "mongrels" result. The fact that a very dif- 

 ferent cla& of birds is produced where the Mallards are 

 crossed with other species and where the common duck 

 is so crossed, with other points of difference, throws 

 some doubt on the assertion that the Mallard is the 

 parent of our common ducks. Besides, efforts to domes- 

 ticate the Mallard have not been successful as a general 

 thing. We have, however, many wild ducks capable of 

 domestication, and the experiment ought to be well 

 tried with all, for thus our stock of domestic poultry 

 may be essentially increased and improved. 



The Rouen breed is the most highly esteemed of all 

 domestic ducks by many duck breeders. Its habits are 

 quiet, and so it does not wander about and get lost, as 

 ducks do. It attains a great weight, and is unsurpassed 

 as a layer. An English writer reports that he has fre- 

 quently known a pair of young drakes 9 or 10 weeks old 

 to weigh 121bs. Sundry writers report very remarkable 

 laying performances of the Rouen ducks. One laid an 

 egg a day for 85 days ; three ducks from February to 

 July laid 334 eggs, besides a few soft ones and five double 

 eggs. One of these laid every morning for 92 days. 

 The young ducks often lay in autumn a good clutch of 

 eggs, and it not unfrequently occurs that a duck which 

 is a first-rate layer will manifest no tendency to sit. 

 This variety of ducks has, in common with many other 

 kinds, great beauty of plumage, which varies somewhat 

 in different individuals. The drakes are heavier than 

 the ducks, but the difference is slight in comparison 

 with the disparity between the sexes in most varieties. 



