The Tufted Duck.



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most independent little fellows, and started off to the pond on

their own account at the early age of three hours. When they

were replaced under the duck she promptly trod one of them to

death, so they were taken away from her for good and put under

a hen for an hour or two ; she was apparently delighted, perhaps

because she had only been sitting a fortnight. The hen and

ducklings were then put in my wader aviary which encloses the

end of a pond, where the ducklings throve famously on duck¬

weed, dried flies, and ants’ eggs floating on the water; they

refused meal for the first week. They were very lively, swim¬

ming and diving for five hours on end the first day they were

hatched. I had great trouble with them at night, as nothing

would induce them to go into the hen’s coop. I had to catch

them every evening for the first six weeks in a butterfly net and

put them in the coop. I consider I was lucky that they met with

no ill effects from this treatment; they never went into their coop

of their own accord by day or night. One squeezed out of the

aviary through the wire netting the first week, and was trampled

on by the other ducks outside; the following week another,

falling down a small but rather steep bank in the aviary, and

landing on his back, was unable to right himself, and died. This

left six, two drakes and four ducks, all of which grew up, and

are, I believe, still flourishing. I only kept one pair myself.


They are easy ducks to rear if sufficient care and trouble

can be spent on them. A pond is, in my opinion, essential, and,

as with all young birds, it is necessary to choose their diet care¬

fully. I found that moths, flies, daddy-long-legs, ants’ eggs,

duck-weed, dried flies, gnats, etc. are very readily taken by these

young ducks ; they soon took to meal, and grew faster than any

ducklings I have ever reared. Their food should be floating , at

any rate until they take to meal. At first they are little dusky

chaps, with yellowish breasts, of a very sturdy build, with short

bills, big heads and feet, with particularly long down on the

head. Their first plumage is a dark brown, a little lighter on

the flanks. Ducks and drakes are difficult to distinguish till

about October when the drakes are assuming their full winter

plumage, though their heads are not so bright, crests not so long,



