n6 A BOOK OF THE RUNNING BROOK : 



"that a dead cat or rabbit, unskinned, should 

 be hung up in a tree over the pond. The 

 gentles resulting from the blow-flies will fall 

 into the pond and afford excellent food for the 

 fish. Care should also be taken to collect after 

 a shower at night, by the aid of a lantern, the 

 large lobworms that are then plentiful." 



One very curious fact recorded by Mr. 

 Buckland is that the presence of ducks on a 

 pond is an immense advantage to the fish, 

 which he explains by the fact that the habit 

 which ducks have of " rootling " with their bills 

 in the mud enables the fish to get at a quantity 

 of minute insects, while the loosening of the 

 mud " gives facilities to the water creatures to 

 breed." So distinct is the improvement of the 

 fish under these circumstances that Mr. Port, 

 who had charge of the experimental ponds at 

 Reculver, told Mr. Buckland that when 

 handling eels even in the dark he could tell 

 from their size whether they came from a 

 stream of which ducks and geese had the run. 

 Of course both ducks and geese must be kept 

 away from ponds when the fish are spawning, 



