WILD DUCK 293 



pheasant, and the expense is small, but certain precau- 

 tions have to be observed, or the result will mean failure. 

 The eggs can be bought nowadays at comparatively 

 low prices, and, having once been bought, there is no 

 necessity to purchase more for the next season, as the 

 females reserved for laying will lay quite sufficient. But 

 supposing, as will probably be the case, that the eggs 

 are to be collected on the estate and along the marshes, 

 it is not necessary to consider the question of purchase. 

 The eggs are usually to be found in the rushes along 

 a river bank or in an open field. The nests have even 

 been found in thick trees, and this is not such an un- 

 common place for a wild duck to build in as might at 

 first be supposed, especially if the trees are situated 

 near a river bank. I have found a nest two years in 

 succession in the same tree as a jackdaw had built hers. 

 To secure the eggs, in this case, is, however, rather a 

 severe test of the agility of a keeper. The eggs, by 

 the way, are of a pale green colour, and are usually 

 eleven in number. 



Having procured the eggs, the treatment is much 

 the same as it is for pheasants, but ducks' eggs require 

 to be damped with water more frequently, as is natural, 

 considering that the female duck would always return 

 to her nest with her breast feathers wet. They take 

 twenty-eight days to hatch, and on hatching, the hens, 

 ducklings, and coops should be placed on some sheltered 

 grass field. The ground selected should be dry, and 

 should be wired in, as the ducklings are inclined to 



