Ducks.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



43 



of sieve capable of retaining very minute worms, 

 seeds, or insects. 



Tnc ir.ale shoveller is a beautiful bird ; its colour- 

 inn is as follows : — 



Head, adjoining half of the neck, medial stiipe (o 

 the interscapulars, the whole back, and primaries, 

 umber brou n ; sides of the head, the neck, and the 

 crest glossed with duck green ; rump and tail- 

 coveits above and below, with blackish green. 

 Lower half of the neck, the breast, shoulders, 

 shorter scapulars, ends of the greater coverts, and 

 sides of the rump white ; longer scajjulars striped 

 with Berlin blue, white and blackish brown ; lesser 

 coverts Berlin blue ; speculum on the wings brilliant 

 grass green, broadly bordered above and narrowly 

 edged below with white ; bounded interiorly with 

 greenish black; belly and flanks deep orange brown, 

 the latter undulated posteriorly with black ; bill 

 black ; legs orange. 



The female is liver brown above, the feathers bor- 

 dered with pale yellowish brown; under parts pale 

 yellowish brown, with obscure liver-brown marks. 

 Le.sser covei ts slightly glossed with blue ; winjj spot, 

 or speculum, less vivid than in the male. Weight 

 about twenty-two ounces. 



Among ttie broad-billed ducks of the southern 

 hemisphere is that remarkable form to which Mr. 

 Swainson has given the generic title of Malacorhyn- 

 chus, and which is distinguished by the edge of the 

 upper mandible being furnished with a thin mem- 

 branaceous skin, projecting considerably on each 

 side, and doubtless very sensitive, while the bill 

 itself is extremely flexible. It is essentially formed 

 for procuring food in mud and semi-fluid ooze. 



Fig. 1957 represents the Beak of Malacorhynchus. 



1058.— TnK Gadw.^ll 



{Chaiile'ai^mtis strepcrus, G. R. Gray). Chauliodus 

 strepera, Swainson ; Anas strcpera, Linn. ; Chipeau 

 or Uidenne of the French ; Anitra montanara and 

 Anatra canapiglia of the Italians; Schwatterente of 

 the Germans; y gors Hwyad Iwyd of the Welsh. 

 In this genus the bill is of ccpial breadth throughout 

 its length, and the laminations of the upper man- 

 dible are very tine and well developed. The wings 

 are long ; the tail is wedge-shaped. Fig. 1959 re- 

 presents the Bill of the Gadwall. This beautiful 

 duck is a native of the high northern latitudes of 

 Europe, Asia, and America; in the latter country it 

 was obseived, together with the mallard, by Dr. 

 Richardson, breeding in the woody districts up to 

 their most northern limits, in latitude G8°. The 

 gadwall is a migratory bird, visiting Holland, France, 

 and Italy during the winter. In our island it is not 

 common ; but, at the period of its vernal passage to 

 the north, appears in the marshes of Norfolk and 

 the adjoining counties, the flocks being probably 

 driven by adverse winds out of their usual course. 

 In Holland it is vEiy abundant. Lakes, rivers, and 

 mai-shes are the resort of this species, the sea-coast 

 being seldom visited. It is remarkable for rapidity 

 of flight and quickness in diving on the least alarm. 

 Insects and their larvae, fresh-water shelled mollusks, 

 small fishes, and aquatic plants and seeds constitute 

 its food. Their eggs are from eight to twelve in 

 number, of a pale olive green. The flesh of this 

 bird is i.eld in high estimation. In the male the 

 trachea is slightly enlarged in its diameter, at about 

 two thirds of its length, but becomes narrower as it 

 approaches the lower larynx : this consists of a large 

 bony arch, with a pyriform drum or bulla attached 

 to the left side, resembling that of the mallard, but 

 smaller. 



In the male the head and upper part of the neck 

 are liver brown, the feathers edged with grey ; 

 lower part of the neck, breast, and mantle black, 

 with concentric semicircles of white; scapulars, 

 flanks, and sides rayed with zigzag lines of white 

 and blackish brown ; lesser wing-coverts grey, mar- 

 bled with yellowish white ; speculum while, with a 

 black anterior border; quills and tail brown ; lump, 

 upper and under tail-coverts bluish black ; under 

 parts greyish white; bill brownish black; legs 

 orange red. The female has the feathers of the 

 back of a blackish brown, bordered with rufous ; 

 the breast reddish brown, with black spots ; no zig- 

 zag markings on the flanks ; rump and lower tail- 

 coverts greyish. 



19C0.— The M.\li/bd 



(Atins Bosc/ias), Bill of. Boschas major, Brisson ; 

 Canard sauvage of the French; Capo Verde (male), 

 Anitra (female), Germano, and Paperone of the 

 Italians ; Wilde Ente of the Germans ; Cors Hwyad, 

 Garan Hwyad, and Hyonwy of the ancient Britons. 

 This species is the origin of our domestic duck, and 

 isspriad ever the northern and temperate portions 

 of Europe, Asia, and America. It is everywhere a 

 migratory bird : and though it breeds abundantly in 

 our island and the adjacent parts of the Continent, 

 yet the g.'eat rendezvous of the species is in the 

 higher latitudes, v. hence, on the approach of winter, 

 vait ficcks wing their way southwards, visiting 

 Vol. II 



marshes, lakes, and rivers, and returning northwards 

 early in spring. Though the domestic duck is poly- 

 gamous, the wild birds pair, but do not mutually 

 assist each other in the work of incubation or care 

 of the brood, tor when the female begins to sit, the 

 male deserts her and joins others of his sex, so that 

 it is not unusual after .May to see the males (or mal- 

 lards) in small companies by themselves. 



As is the case with the teal, wigeon, pintail, duck, 

 &c., the plumage of the male, towards the middle 

 of summer, undergoes a remarkable change, and 

 approaches in colouring to that of the female; not, 

 as it would seem, by a moult of the feathers, but by 

 an actual change of tint. With the autumn moult, 

 the drake regains his bcautil'ul dress. In the tame 

 drake this alteration is not so definite. 



The female makes her nest in some dry spot in 

 the marshes, not far from the water, and in the 

 covert of dense tall herbage and bushes. It is coin- 

 posed of withered grass and other vegetables ; the 

 eggs are from ten to fourteen in number, of a bluish 

 white. Wlien the female quits the nest for food, 

 she covers the eggs with down and other substances. 

 Though the female wild duck generally breeds in 

 the marshes as stated, she occasionally chooses very 

 different situations, and several instances have been 

 recorded in which the eggs have been deposited 

 on the fork of a large tree or in some deserted nest. 

 Mr. Selby informs us that an instance of this kind 

 came under his personal observation near his own 

 residence ; the bird having laid her eggs in the old 

 nest of a crow, at least thirty feet from the ground, 

 and hatched her young ; " and as none were found 

 dead under the tree, it is presumed that she carried 

 them safely to the ground in her bill, a mode of 

 conveyance known to be frequently adopted by the 

 eider-duck.' Montagu says, " We have been as- 

 sured by a person of undoubted veracity, that a half- 

 domesticated duck made a nest in Rumford Tower, 

 hatched her young and brought them down in 

 safety to a piece of water at a considerable distance. 

 Others have been known to breed in trees ; and we 

 recollect the nei^t of this bird being found in the 

 head of an old pollard willow impending the water, 

 whence the young might readily drop unhuit into 

 their natuial element. Mr. Etchington mentions 

 one in Sussex which was found sitting upon nine 

 eggs on an oak-tree twenty-five feet from the 

 ground; and the author of the 'Rural Sports ' re- 

 cords an instance of one taking possession of the 

 nest of a hawk in a large oak. To these we can 

 add, upon the testimony of a gentleman of the 

 strictest veracity, that out of a large flock of half- 

 domesticated duck.s, one deposited her eggs in the 

 principal fork of a large tree near his house." 



In the drake, or male, the trachea is furnished at 

 its lower laiynx with an osseous bulla of consider- 

 able magnitude. 



In all countries the domestic duck is valued for 

 the sake of its flesh, of the excellency of which 

 nothing need be said. In China, where these birds 

 are kept in vast numbers, housed at night in boats 

 on the river, thousands are hatched by artificial 

 means; the eggs are placed in tiers or boxes filled 

 with sand, and subjected to the necessary degree of 

 heat upon a floor of bricks. '• The ducklings are fed 

 at first with a mess composed of boiled craw-fish or 

 crabs, cut in small pieces and mixed with rice. In 

 about a fortnight they are able to shift for them- 

 selves, when they are placed under the guidance of 

 an old stepmother, who leads them at stated times 

 to feed, to and from the boat in which they are kept, 

 and which is moved about by the owner to places 

 likely to afford a plentiful supply of food." 



It is curioris to see how well a flock of three or 

 four hundred ducks are trained to obey their master, 

 for some thousands belonging to different boats 

 will feed at large on the same spot, and, on a signal 

 given, follow their leader to their respective boats 

 without a stranger being found amongst them. 



Wild ducks were formerly much more abundant 

 in our island than at present, in consequence of the 

 drainage of our marshes. Pennant records that 

 during one season in the neighbourhood of Wain- 

 fleet,' of ducks, wigeons, and teals 31,200 were 

 taken in only ten decoys, of which more than tvyo- 

 thirds were of the present species ; and that at a sin- 

 gle driving of the fens in Lincolnshire, before the 

 young had taken wing, and while the old birds were 

 in moult, one hundred and fifty dozens have been 

 captured. The same district at the present time 

 scarcely produces a dozen broods in the year. 



The mode of capturing wild ducks varies in 

 different countries; at the Lakes of Peronne, in 

 Picardy, the fowlers, concealed in huts of reeds, 

 scatter destruction amidst the flocks by the gun, 

 as is well detailed by Colonel Hawker. In China 

 the sportsman covers his head with a calabash, and 

 wading up to his neck, mixes with the flock, and 

 seizing his victims by the feet, ])ulls them under 

 the water, kills them, and fastens them to his 

 giidle without cxtilmg any alarm among the sur- 

 vivors. 



Figg 1901 and 19C2 are illustrative of the decoy 

 plan adopted in the fens of Lincolnshire. 



In the lake to which the wild ducks resort, their 

 most favourite haunts are obseived. Then in the 

 most sequestered pait of this haunt a ditch is cut, 

 which is about four yards across at the entrance, 

 and decreases gradually in width from the entrance to 

 the farther end, which is not more than two feet wide. 

 The ditch is of a circular ibrm, but does not bend 

 much for the first ten yards. The banks of the lake 

 on each side of this ditch (or " pipe," as it is called) 

 are kept clear from reeds, coarse herbage, &c., in 

 order that the fowl may get on them to sit and dress 

 themselves. Along the ditch, poles are driven into 

 the ground, close to its edge, on each side, and the 

 lops are bent over acrcss the dilch and tied toge- 

 ther. These poles, thus bent, form at the entrance 

 of the ditch or pipe an arch, the top of which is ten 

 feet distant from the surface of the water. This 

 arch is made to decrease in height as the pipe de- 

 creases in width, so that the remote end is not more 

 than eighteen inches in height. The i)oles are 

 placed about six feet from each other, and connected 

 by poles laid lengthwise acioss the arch and tied 

 together. Over the whole is thrown a net, which 

 is made fast to a reed-fence at the entrance and 

 nine or ten yards up the ditch, and afterwaids 

 strongly pegged to the ground. At the end of the 

 pipe farthest from the entrance is fixed a "tunnel- 

 net," as it is called, about four yards in length, of a 

 round form, and kept open by a number of hoops, 

 about eighteen inches in diameter, placed at a small 

 distance from each other to keep it distended. 

 Supposing the circular bend of the pipe to be to the 

 right when one stands with his back to the lake, 

 then on the left-hand side a number of reed-fences 

 are constructed, called "shootings," for the purpose 

 of screening the "decoy-man" from cbservalion, 

 and in such a manner, that the fowl in the decoy 

 may not be alarmed while he is driving those that 

 are in the pipe. These shootings, which are ten in 

 number, are about four yards in length, and about 

 six feet high. From the end of the last shooting a 

 person cannot see the lake, owing to the bend of the 

 pipes, and there is then no further occasion for 

 shelter. Were it not for these shootings, the fowl 

 that remain about the mouth of the pipe would be 

 alarmed if the person driving the fowl already under 

 the net should be exposed, and would become so 

 shy as entirely to forsake the place. The first thing 

 that the decoy-man does when he approaches the 

 pipe is to take a piece of lighted turf, or peat, and 

 hold it near his mouth, to prevent the birds fioni 

 smelling him. He is attended by a dog, trained for 

 the purpose of rendering him assistance. He walks 

 very silently about half-way up the shootings, where 

 a small piece of wood is thrust through the reed- 

 fence, which makes an aperture just large enough 

 to enable him to see if any fowl are in ; if not, he 

 walks forward to see if any are about the entrance 

 of the pipe. If there are, he stops and makes amo- 

 tion to his dog, and gives him u. piece of cheese, or 

 something else, to eat; and, having received this, 

 the animal goes directly to a hole through the reed- 

 fence, and the birds immediately fly oft' the bank, 

 into the water. The dog returns along the bank 

 betvveen the reed-fences, and comes out to his mas- 

 ter at another hole. The man then gives him 

 something to leward and encourage him, and the 

 animal repeats his rounds until the birds are attracted 

 by his motions, and follow him into the mouth of 

 the pipe. This operation is called "working" 

 them. The man now retreats farther back, working 

 the dog at different holes until the ducks are suf- 

 ficiently tmder the net. He then commands his 

 dog to lie down behind the fence, and going him- 

 self forward to the end of the pipe next the lake, he 

 takes oft' his hat and gives it a wave between the 

 shootings. All the birds that are under the net can 

 then .see him; but none that are in the lake can. 

 The former fly forward, and the man then runs (o 

 the next shooting and waves his hat, and so on, 

 driving them along until they come to the tunnel- 

 net, into which they creep. When they are all in, 

 the man gives the net a twist, so as to prevent them 

 fiom getting back. He then takes the net oft' from 

 the end of the pipe, and faking out, one by one, the 

 ducks that are in it, dislocates their necks. This is 

 the scene represented in Fig. 19G2. The net is 

 afterwards hung on again for the repetition of the 

 process; and in this manner five or six dozen have 

 sometimes been taken at one drift. When the wind 

 blows directly in or out of the pipes, the fowl seldom 

 work well, especially when it blows into the pipe. 

 The reason of this is, that the ducks always prefer 

 swimming against the wind, otherwise tlie wind 

 blowing from behind catches and ruflles their 

 feathers. If many pipes are made in the same 

 lake, they are so constructed as to suit dift'erent 

 winds, and are worked accordingly. The better 

 to entice tl;e fowl into the pipe, hemp-seed is 

 occasionally strewn on the water. Tlie season 

 allowed by Act of Parliament for taking ducks in 



a 2 



