PRESERVING AND LURING THE DUCK 93 



during drought. One may say, too, that a spring 

 which has hitherto served no useful purpose can be 

 converted into a perfect pond if the soil be excavated 

 to a sufficient depth and the bottom be puddled. It 

 is not always, however, that such facilities exist, and 

 when they are wanting ingenuity must be exercised 

 in other directions. A good and lasting pond may, 

 for instance, be created by taking a suitable hollow 

 and puddling a fairly large basin and then conducting 

 water to it by drainage or by means of ditches cut 

 athwart the fall of the land, these ditches having 

 ducts flowing into the pond. Of course I am merely 

 glancing at the matter embraced in this paragraph ; 

 failing practical experience of pond-making it is better 

 to consult expert opinion before beginning opera- 

 tions. As the work, whether damming, puddling, or 

 draining, is to be done with a view to permanency, it 

 should be scientific in its projection and thorough in 

 its workmanship. 



After making the ponds there comes the question 

 of rendering them attractive to their future inhabi- 

 tants. Unless this question be fully studied a very 

 moderate degree of success will attend the efforts of 

 the duck preserver. However attractive the ponds 

 may be, and however little disturbed, one must 

 unless the birds are shot very early in the season 



