264 FARMING FOR LADIES, [chap, xiii. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Wild ducks: their nature and liabits— Decoys— The do- 

 mestic duck — Description and choice of breed — Muscovy 

 duck— Nests— Hatching— Eggs— Rearing and fattening of 

 ducklings — Feeding of store ducks — Cost of fatting — 

 Weight — Fish-ponds and pike — Anecdote respecting crows 

 — Oily glands. 



Although the name of Wild Duck is ap- 

 plied as a generic term to the whole species 

 of this bird, yet the tribes are more numerous 

 than any other kind of water-fowl, for natu- 

 ralists enumerate more than fifty different 

 breeds, among which are included the widgeon 

 and the teal, which are common on our tables ; 

 the eider-duck, so valuable for its down ; and 

 the canvas-bag-duck, so highly prized in the 

 United States of America, as a luxury sur- 

 passing in richness of flavour any known bird 

 of the species. Indeed the flesh of the whole 

 race, when not fishy, is more highly esteemed 

 than that of the domesticated sort ; but its 

 quality depends much on the nature of the 

 food on which they find support. 



