94 SHOOTING THE DUCK 



always calculate upon losing a certain small pro- 

 portion of the duck reared, for the mallard is a 

 wanderer by nature ; but with forethought and care 

 this leakage can be reduced to a minimum. As a 

 set-off to the almost inevitable loss of a few of one's 

 own birds, strange birds will visit and take up their 

 quarters on attractive ponds sometimes in numbers 

 far exceeding those of the deserters if one is pre- 

 serving in a district where there are other preservers ; 

 but in a non-duck district one can calculate upon no 

 such reparation. 



The great attraction to duck is cover ; it gives 

 the birds a sense of security. Mallard unless kept 

 as tame as farmyard poultry, and not always then 

 can no more be expected to attach themselves to a 

 bare, open pond than can pheasants be expected to 

 make themselves at home in a locality void of trees 

 and undergrowth. One sees it advised that rushes 

 should be introduced ; but, in my own opinion, they 

 are not only unnecessary but undesirable as well ; 

 they eventually become a nuisance. As temporary 

 cover let stout brushwood be used, and plenty of it. 

 It should be thrown down roughly half in half out 

 of the water. Against the brushwood plant strong 

 young brambles, or well-rooted bramble runners. 

 Islands which have been made in the pond are 



