WILD DUCKS 175 



unabsorbed. Probably at first they should be kept quiet 

 and warm, and then be allowed to swim in warm, shallow 

 water, in which live insects could be put. Perhaps they 

 might do better with a hen, and with patient handling get 

 a start. 



Food for Delicate Species. Experiment showed that 

 ducklings of certain species, even when eating heartily, were 

 not properly nourished by the artificial food which an- 

 swered well for most kinds. Such species are the white- 

 winged scoter and the golden-eye. The little black-and- 

 white fellows, after learning to eat, seemed perpetually 

 hungry. They would stay at the dish after the others had 

 finished, and load themselves up. For all that they gained 

 little. Stunted in growth, some died, and the few that got 

 fledged were under-sized, and the last died when frost came. 

 From the voracity of all the young ducks for insects, it is 

 evident that this was what they needed. When I returned 

 from the marshes and stepped into the duck pens, my cloth- 

 ing almost covered with mosquitoes, the ducklings of all 

 kinds almost mobbed me, eating off the insects. This is 

 what they live on in the sloughs — ^insect life, worms, and 

 aquatic vegetation. 



Besides catching insects for such ducklings, worms could 

 be dug for them. These would have to be chopped up at 

 first, if large. Maggots could also be raised to get them 

 started. A little later chopped Hver or meat could be fed 

 to them, and some fish. W. W. Grant, who visited Eng- 

 lish preserves, writes that the keepers tempted shy duck- 

 lings with vermicelli in water, which resembles worms. The 

 ordinary duck foods could also be given to supplement, 

 finally even grain. Mr. Walcott found that in England, 

 where experimenters keep various sea ducks, the adults 

 at least do well on a varied diet, and eat grain and corn, 



