THE WILD DUCK.] ?> V FIELD, WOOD, AND W'ATl'K. [tiik wild dlck. 



tame ones tliat never quit tljo pond) are fed 

 with hemp-seed, o:\ta, and bufk-wheat. In 

 catching the wild birds, hemp-seed ia thrown 

 over tl»e isoreena to allure them forward into 

 the pipes, of which there are several, leading 

 up a narrow ditch, that closes at last with a 

 funnel-ntt. Over these pipes, which grow 

 narrower from the first entrance, there is a 

 coutiuued nrch of netting, suspended oa hoops. 

 It isnecossary to liavo a. pipe for almost every 

 wind that can blow, as ou that circumstance 

 it depends which pipe the fowl will take to. 

 The decoy-man likewise always keeps to the 

 leeward of the wild fowl ; and burns, in his 

 mouth or hand, a piece of Butch turf, that his 

 own smell, if he have any, may not reach them ; 

 for, if they once discover by their scent that 

 a man is near, tliey all instantly take flight. 

 Along each pipe are placed reed screens, at cer- 

 tain intervals, to prevent him from being seen 

 till he thinks proper to show himself, or the 

 birds have passed up the pipe, to which they are 

 led by the trained ducks, which know the de- 

 coy-man's whistle, or are enticed by the hemp- 

 seed. A dog, which is taught to play backwards 

 and forwards between the screens, at the direc- 

 tion of his master, is sometimes used. The 

 fowl, roused by this new object, advance to- 

 wards it, while the dog is playing still nearer 

 to the entrance oi ihe pipes. At last the de- 

 coy-man appears from behind the screens, and 

 the wild fowl, not daring to pass by him, and 

 unable to fly off" on account of the net covering 

 the hoops, press forward to the end of the 

 funnel-net, which terminates upon the land, 

 where a person is stationed ready to take 

 them. The trained birds return past the 

 decoy-man into the pond again, till a repeti- 

 tion of their services is required. Tlie general 

 season for catching is from the latter end of 

 October till February. 



It was formerh' customary to have, in the 

 fens, an annual driving of the young ducks, 

 before they took wing. Numbers of people 

 assembled, who beat a vast tract, and Ibrced 

 the birds into a net placed at the spot where 

 the sport was to terminate. By this practice 

 — which, however, has been abolished — as 

 many as a hundred and seventy-four dozen 

 have been known to be taken in one day. 



"Wild ducks do not always build their nests 

 close to the water, but often at considerable dis- 



tance from it ; in which case the female will 

 take the young in her beak, or betweou the 

 legs, to the water. They havo been knowa 

 sometimes to lay their eggs iu a high tree, ia 

 a deserted maLi;pie's or crow's nest ; and an iu- 

 stanco has likewise been recorded of one being 

 found at Etchinghani, in Sussex, sitting upoa 

 nine eggs, in an oak, at the height of twenty- 

 five feet from the ground. The eggs were 

 supported by some small twigs laid crossways. 



We are informed, that at Bold, in Lanca- 

 shire, there were formerly great numbers of 

 wild ducks, during the summer-time, ia the 

 ponds and moat near the hall. These, it is 

 said, used regularly to be fed. A man beat 

 with a stone on a hollow wooden vessel, and 

 immediately the ducks would come round him. 

 He scattered corn among them, which they 

 gathered with as mucli quietness aud fami- 

 liarity as might bo expected from tame ducks. 

 As soon as they had finished their repast, they 

 returned to their accustomed haunts. 



Prodigious numbers of these birds arc taken 

 by decoys, ia Picardy, iu Frauce. It is cus- 

 tomary there, to wait for the flock's passing 

 over certain kaown places ; when the sports- 

 man, having a wicker cage, containing a quan- 

 tity of tame birds, lets cut one at a time, which 

 enticing the passengers within gun- shot, five 

 or six are often killed at once by an expert 

 marksman. They are also, now and then, taken 

 by hooks baited with raw meat, which the 

 birds swallow while swimming on the water. 



Other methods of catching ducks and geese 

 are peculiar to certain nations. One of these, 

 from its singularity, seems worth mentioning. 

 A person wades into the water up to the chin; 

 and, having his head covered with an empty 

 calabash, or gourd, approaclies the place where 

 are the ducks ; which, not regarding an objecc 

 of this kind, suffer him freely to mix with 

 them. He then has only to pull them by 

 the legs under the water, one after another, 

 and fix them to his belt, till he is satisfied ; 

 returning as unsuspected by the remainder as 

 when he first went among them. This curious 

 method is frequently practised on the river 

 Ganges, the earthen vessels of the Hindoos 

 being used instead of calabashes. These 

 vessels are what the Hindoos boil their rice ia. 

 After having been once used, these vessels 

 are looked upon as defiled, aad are thrown 



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