CHAPTER XXIII 



TYPES AND BREEDS OF DUCKS 



Considered with reference to sources from which stock was ob- 

 tained, the races of domestic ducks bred for economic purposes are 

 of three distinct types. Taking them as they are, we find but two 

 types. To one of these belong all economic races of European 



and of Asiatic 

 derivation ; to 

 the other, the 

 Muscovy Duck 

 (a native of 

 South Amer- 

 ica), which, like 

 the turkey, was 

 given a name 

 that suggested 

 eastern Europe 

 as the place 

 of origin. The 

 more common 

 types of orna- 

 mental ducks are plainly of the same origin as the large races. They 

 are dwarfed types, or "bantam ducks." The rarer and more bril- 

 liantly colored kinds often seen in aviaries are mostly captive wild 

 birds, though some, as the Mandarin, are said to be domesticated 

 in the countries from which they came. 



The common wild duck. The Mallard, or common wild duck, 

 is generally accepted as the ancestor of all economic races of ducks, 

 with the exception of the Muscovy. Wild specimens are still fre- 

 quently captured and brought into domestication, and after several 

 generations become so much increased in size that they will pass 

 readily for small specimens of the Rouen Duck, which the Mallard 

 closely resembles in color. 



438 



FIG. 466. Domesticated Mallard Ducks. Brook View Farm, 

 Newbury, Massachusetts 



