Wild Ducks and Duck Decoying. 215 



places are local, and this drain on them cannot 

 long be continued without telling materially 

 upon the species. In the locality referred to, 

 each nest yields about one-sixth of a pound 

 of down, worth from twelve to fifteen shillings 

 a pound, and one pound and a half is required to 

 make a single coverlet. The eggs are pickled 

 for winter use, one or two only being left to 

 hatch. 



It need only be added that the eider is said to 

 be the swiftest of all ducks, flying at the rate of 

 nearly a hundred miles an hour. 



Of the remaining rarer ducks are the ruddy- 

 sheld, the long-tailed, and harlequin ducks. The 

 ruddy-sheld is an exquisitely coloured duck 

 with rufous plumage ; and the harlequin, with 

 its numerous bright colours, may be said to be 

 the handsomest and rarest of all. The long 

 tailed duck is sometimes called the sea-pheasant, 

 and is not unfrequently found on our coasts in 

 rough weather. 



Duck decoying is one of the oldest methods of 

 taking winter wild-fowl. It has been practised 

 for centuries, and perhaps nowhere with greater 

 success than in our own country. Owing to its 

 insular position Britain has always been a great 

 resort of fowl, and in times past it was visited by 

 myriad of swans, geese, and ducks, many of 

 which annually remained to breed. The marsh 

 and fenlands of the south-eastern counties con- 



