WILD DUCKS AND DUCK DECOYING 157 



Nature is prolific even in her waste ; but although 

 eiders are plentiful, their breeding-places are local, 

 and this drain on them cannot long be continued 

 without telling materially upon the species. In the 

 locality referred to, each nest yields about one-sixth 

 of a pound of down, worth from twelve to fifteen 

 shillings a pound, and one pound and a half is re- 

 quired to make a single coverlet. The eggs are 

 pickled for winter use, one or two only being left to 

 hatch. 



It need only be added that the eider is said to be 

 the swiftest of all ducks, flying at the rate of nearly 

 a hundred miles an hour. 



Of the remaining rarer ducks are the ruddy-sheld, 

 the long- tailed and harlequin ducks. The ruddy- 

 sheld is an exquisitely -coloured duck with rufus 

 plumage; and the harlequin, with its numerous 

 bright colours, may be said to be the handsomest 

 and rarest of all. The long-tailed duck is not un- 

 frequently found on our coasts in rough weather. 



IV 



DUCK DECOYING 



DUCK decoying is one of the oldest methods of taking 

 winter wild-fowl. It has been practised for centuries, 

 and perhaps nowhere with greater success than in our 



