cjs The Illustrated Book of Poultry. 



-old water (only just sufficient water to thoroughly soak it) ; then add the other ingredients in a 

 dry state to the poultry-food, and if carefully mixed it will make a very nice food. The food 

 should be placed in shallow earthenware pans, and after the first day or two a few pieces of very 

 finely-chopped boiled lights or liver will greatly help them, and a few small earth-worms 

 occasionally ; also a little canary-seed as they get older. Water should be given rather sparingly, 

 always giving some duck-weed in the same ; this duck-weed should be collected in the evening, 

 when numerous small molluscs will be secured with it, which is of wonderful assistance in 



rearing them. 



"They should never be allowed to get old enough to fly before they are pinioned, which may 

 be done very easily with a sharp pair of strong scissors, getting the scissors nearly close up to the 

 first joint of wing, when a quick action will sever the part, taking care not to cut away the little 

 projecting point with about three feathers, near to the elbow of wing, as this serves to protect the 

 part where amputated. After having carefully performed the operation, let them have some clean 

 cold water to dabble in ; the blood will then very soon cease to flov/. Bring them on gradually to 

 same food as for adults ; not forgetting to look well after their safety as well as feeding, for rats are 



terrible enemies to them." 



It will be seen that the great point in endeavouring to breed these beautiful birds is to imitate 

 nature as far as possible. A pond with a small island well screened with shrubs is capital for this 

 purpose, and is one great cause of the success at the Zoological Gardens, in Regent's Park, where 

 both Mandarins and Carolinas have bred repeatedly. A small house something like a pigeon- 

 house, fixed on a pole standing in the water, with a little hen-ladder reaching to it out of the water, 

 and shaded with boughs or brambles, is also a good plan ; and in such circumstances, if perfectly 

 secured from rats, the ducks may be left to hatch and rear their own young, though hens are 

 to be preferred. It is to be remarked that the smaller kinds of ducks hatch in less time than 

 the larger. Mandarins and Carolinas usually hatch in about twenty-five days ; but something 

 depends upon whether the eggs are set under hens, which, owing to the greater heat of their bodies 

 (at least we suppose so, reasoning generally), hatch from one to two days earlier than if the same 

 eees are set under their natural parent. 



JUDGING DUCKS. — After a comparison of many awards, we have arrived at the conclusion 

 that to embody the judging of ducks in a reliable table is neither possible nor necessary. The 

 larger varieties are practically judged chiefly by weight ; it being very rarely that there are not 

 plenty of specimens correct in bill and other fancy points. Black East Indians do not seem to us 

 to be judged at all uniformly, some judges appearing to lay far the most stress on smallness, and 

 others on " colour." In our own opinion, out of a total of a hundred points, "colour" should be 

 allowed about forty-five, symmetry twenty-five, and smallness and condition together forty ; but 

 there is no uniform practice, and we give this expressly as our own view. Mandarins and Carolinas 

 should be judged almost entirely by the perfection, precision, and brilliancy of their plumage, in 

 which condition will of course have a large share. In the case of many varieties competing 

 together, everything must obviously bfe left to the judge, who will be guided partly by his views 

 as to encouraging anything new, partly by the merit of the specimens themselves, and partly by his 

 own opinion as to the appearance of each specimen. For this there is no remedy, unjust as it is 

 both to judge and exhibitor ; except in the few cases where the liberality of committees allows a 

 judge in such open classes to award " extra" prizes wherever he thinks rare specimens have a fair 

 claim to such a distinction ; but we must add that a few pounds spent in this way would prevent 

 much heart-burning, and be well-bestowed. 



