132 PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



though I think rather less so than other kinds. But the 

 usual hand-reared stock breeds regularly and easily. All 

 that is needed is the usual small pond, with arrangements 

 as previously described, including feeding. Any sort of 

 land around the pond will do. Dry land is as good as marsh, 

 and there need not be so much of it as for some ducks. They 

 will lay almost anywhere, using any sort of shelter, such as 

 brush-piles, boxes, coops, wicker baskets, logs, stumps, grass, 

 or other growth, and the like. To some extent they may 

 drop eggs around the pen, or even in the water. They are 

 not easily disturbed, and eggs can be collected from the 

 nests daily, if desired, leaving a couple for encouragement. 

 With other species nests should not be disturbed until lay- 

 ing is completed. Laying may begin about the first of April 

 or earlier. 



Wood Duck. Another species which it has proved not 

 difficult to breed is the wood duck, which is one of the most 

 elegantly coloured of our North American birds. It is a 

 gentle, docile species, and is very easily kept in captivity. 

 Strange it is that until quite recently it was bred very little 

 in this country, but in large numbers abroad, particularly in 

 Holland and Belgium, so that nearly all our breeding-stock 

 for sale came from those countries. American dealers made 

 trips there, bought up these birds from the farmers, and 

 shipped them over here. Now they are bred and raised 

 here quite extensively, yet there is such demand for them 

 that prices still remain high, and rearing them is very profit- 

 able. 



Breeding Methods. The methods employed for feeding 

 and breeding them are not different from those with other 

 species, except in regard to their nesting. In the natural 

 state they breed in hollow trees, and in captivity in elevated 

 boxes. The best way is to drive a post out in the water, 



