136 OUR DOMESTIC BIRDS 



handle his birds for thorough examination. As a rule, a fowl 

 quickly learns that it is not going to be hurt, and the more it is 

 handled the tamer it becomes. Young ducks are almost stupidly 

 fearless of the person who feeds them, as long as he goes among 

 them without touching them, but after he catches them they are 

 as stupidly shy. It takes very much more patience to handle 

 ducks as a fancier handles birds than the average human being 

 possesses, and so very few people find them satisfactory for 

 pets after they cease to be a novelty. 



Perhaps if the interest in the breeding of ducks for exhibition 

 were greater, stocks of ducks that were free from this timidity 

 could gradually be developed. Individual birds are often found 

 which are not at all shy ; and, as a rule, persistent selection for 

 any quality will eventually make it a race characteristic. 



