290 DOMESTIC DUCKS. Ciiaf. VIII. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



T)UCK — GOOSE — I'EACOCK — TURKEY — GUINEA-FOWL — CANARY- 

 BIRD — GOLD-FISH — HIVE-BEES — SILK-MOTHS. 



DUCKS, SEVERAL BREEDS OF — PROGRESS OF DOMESTICATION — ORIGIN OF 

 FROM THE COMMON WILD-DUCK — DIFFERENCES IN THE DIFFERENT BREEDS 

 — OSTEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES — EFFECTS OF TSE AND DISUSE ON TEi. 

 LIMB-BONES. 



GOOSE, ANCIENTLY DOMESTICATED — LITTLE VARIATION OF — SEBASTOFOL 

 BREED. 



PEACOCK, ORIGIN OF BLACK-SHODLDERED BREED. 



TURKEY, BREEDS OF — CROSSED WITH THE UNITED STATES SPECIES — 

 EFFECTS OF CLIMATE ON. 



GUINEA-FOWL, (JANARY-BLRD, GOLD-FISH, HIVE-BEES. 

 SILK-MOTHS, SPECIES and breeds of — anciently domesticated — • 



CARE IN THEIR SELECTION — DIFFERENCES IN THE DIFFERENT RACES — IN 

 THE EGG, CATERPILLAR AND COCOON STATES — INHERITANCE OF CHA- 

 RACTERS — IMPERFECT WINGS — LOST INSTINCTS — CORRELATED CHARACTERS. 



I WILL, as in previous cases, first briefly describe the chief 

 domestic breeds of the duck : — 



Breed 1. Common Domestic Duel: — Varies miicli in colour and 

 in proportions, and differs in instincts and disposition from the 

 wild duck. There are several sub-breeds : — (1) The Aylesbury, of 

 great size, white, with pale-yellow beak and logs ; abdominal dermal 

 sack largely developed. (2) The Eouen, of great size, coloured like 

 the wild duck, with green or mottled beak ; dermal sack largely 

 developed. (8) Tufted Duck, with a large top-knot of fine downy 

 feathers, supported on a fleshy mass, with the skull perforated 

 beneath. The top-knot in a duck which I imported from Holland 

 was two and a half inches in diameter. (4) Labrador (or Canadian, 

 or Buenos Ayres, or East Indian) ; plumage entirely black ; beak 

 broader, relatively to its length, than m the wild duck ; eggs slightly 

 tinted with black. This sub-breed perhaps ought to be ranked as 

 a breed ; it includes two sub-varieties, one as large as the common 

 domestic duck, which I have kept alive, and the other smaller and 

 often capable of flight.^ I presume it is this latter sub-variety 

 which has been described in France ^ as flying well, being rather 

 wild, and when cooked having the flavour of the wild duck ; never- 



' 'Poultrv Chronicle '(1854), vol. ^ Dr. Turral, in ' Bull. Soc. d'Ae- 



si. p. 91, and vol. i. p. 330, climat.,' turn. vii. 1860, p. oil. 



