248 CAYUGA BLACK DUCK. 



CAYUGA BLACK DUCK. 



This breed is spoken of in high terms by those who have 

 bred them. I have secured a pair from the yard of Dr. Eben 

 Wight, Dedham, Mass., who sends me the following history 

 and description of them : 



The above representation is by no means a flattering one, for this 

 variety is even more sizeable than there delineated. This variety of 

 duck has been bred by Mr. J. S. Clarke, of Caynga county, IS". Y., for 

 near twenty years, and is undoubtedly a cross between some wild 

 variety, and the domestic duck, and though Mr. Clark has bred them 

 for that length of time, they were first brought to notice through the 

 columns of the Albany Cultivator, in 1851. Mr. Howard, the editor, 

 (now of the Boston Cultivator,) having seen in the market some ducks 

 of this variety, dressed, and weighing about eight pounds each, and 

 always having an eye to the useful, he traced them to Mr. Clark, since 

 which the stock has become more widely disseminated, and is, in 

 size, superior to the Aylesbury, a trio of which were exhibited at the 

 "Birmiugham Poultry Show," weighing (alive) twenty -two pounds, 

 being considered as monsters at even that weight, while these dresa 

 from seven to nine pounds, making the trio twenty-one to twenty- 

 seven pounds, ready for the spit. 



The " Cayuga Black Duck," is very prolific, giving about one hun- 

 dred and fifty eggs in the year; are both ornamental and quiet; not 

 disposed to ramble, and never taking to wing. 



I have some fine specimens in my yard at Dedham. 



Notwithstanding the Doctor speaks so highly of this variety, 

 I think it does not equal the Aylesbury duck, all things eon^ 

 sidered. 



