176 PROPAGATION OF WILD BIRDS 



even fish-eaters like mergansers, which would indicate that 

 the young also may be considerably omnivorous. 



Raising Eiders. Young eider ducks were raised suc- 

 cessfully in Scotland for several seasons by Donald Mac- 

 Vicar, according to his son, A. G. MacVicar. The eggs 

 were brought from the western Hebrides. He used to go 

 to the shore, gather limpets and various shell-fish and 

 Crustacea, and pound them up for the young eiders, which 

 thrived upon them. Doubtless this diet would be equally 

 effective for other marine species or those hard to raise. 



Further Details on Wood Duck. In reference to raising 

 wood ducks, A. G. MacVicar has some further interesting 

 details of method. For diet he emphasizes angleworms 

 and lettuce, especially the former. These ducklings are 

 nervous in temperament, and should be kept as quiet as 

 possible, being shut in with the bantam in a covered run for 

 at least the first week. If their claws are clipped sKghtly 

 they cannot chmb up boards or posts, though they stiU 

 can scramble up wire. After the first week their claws be- 

 come blunted naturally. He gives the brood a pan of 

 water nearly filled with sand and pebbles, on warm days 

 only. They dabble in this, and eat grit, to their godd. He 

 prefers cochin bantams for them, as they are good callers 

 and keep chattering to the restless young, controlling them 

 better than other kinds. Silkies, though quiet, are poor 

 callers and thus not good disciplinarians. Moreover, their 

 hairy plumage gets soaked from the young ducks, and is 

 hard to dry. 



Further Experiments. Some further details can be 

 given as based on my experiments with hatching and rear- 

 ing young wild ducks in Northwest Canada, and subse- 

 quently. The species there experimented with, of all of 

 which eggs were secured, were canvasback, redhead, lesser 



