MANAGEMENT OF DUCKS. 243 



No doubt they thrive best where there is plenty of 

 running water ; but their flesh is said to be less deli- 

 cate, and their eggs not so good in flavour when they 

 are quite at large. On this account, and also because 

 ducks are very filthy in their eating, some persons con- 

 fine them within a pen, or small paddock, and feed 

 them with good and proper food and water, until they 

 are fit for the table. Certainly, where these birds are 

 left to range as they please, the food they eat is such 

 as would prevent much enjoyment of their flesh, were 

 it known to those who have them served up at their 

 tables. 



The wild duck, or mallard, is a well-known water 

 bird, and to this our tame varieties owe their origin. 

 The ordinary duck, sold in the London markets, is the 

 English or Aylesbury white duck, which is fattened in 

 great numbers in some parts of Buckinghamshire and 

 Bedfordshire, in the early spring. Very many families 

 gain a comfortable livelihood by breeding and rearing 

 ducks, the greater part of which are actually brought 

 up at the cottager's fireside. Different broods are 

 brought forward, so as to keep up a succession all 

 through the season, when the best prices can be made. 

 The interior of the cottages is fitted up with boxes, 

 pens, &c., arranged round the walls, and presenting a 

 very odd appearance to strangers. In these places the 

 ducklings are reared under the care of the good wife, 

 whose chief attention is devoted to this profitable em- 

 ployment. One labouring man, having only one room 

 to live in, is mentioned as having, some years ago, sent 

 up as many as four hundred ducks in a season, the 

 greater part being sold at very high prices. 



Another variety, of finer flavour than the preceding, 

 is the dark-coloured Rouen, or Rhone duck, originally 

 from France. The flavour of the flesh, in this, as in 

 all other ducks, is much influenced by the kind of food. 

 On the banks of the Seine, in the neighbourhood of 

 Rouen, this duck is said to thrive admirably, on account 

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