PRESERVING AND LURING THE DUCK 99 



this account it is highly advisable to coop them close 

 to a shed or other building under the cover of which 

 they can be confined when there is rain. If the 

 weather be both wet and cold, they will do better if 

 kept entirely under cover and sheltered from the wind 

 for ten days, or perhaps even more, after leaving the 

 shell. Their run should be on close-cropped grass. 



Ducklings are great wanderers, and must be kept 

 within due bounds, or they will stray far from the 

 coops and lose their bearings entirely. Where they 

 are bred in large numbers it is often the practice to 

 employ boys to watch them throughout the day and 

 turn back those which begin to stray too far afield. 

 Failing this, either the meadow in which they are 

 cooped must be wired all round, or else there must 

 be pens within the meadow. The former is to be 

 recommended, on the ground that the birds, having 

 a wide range, are able to secure a larger quantity of 

 their natural food, insects ; the latter on the ground 

 of economy. I have found all practical requirements 

 met by having a twenty-five-yard length of wire netting 

 round each coop and moving the enclosure a very 

 brief task every day. The netting is supported by 

 a few pointed sticks. 



At the age of eight weeks, never earlier, the young 

 birds, together with their coops, may be taken to the 



H 2 



