THE POULTRY-YARD. 287 



like manner impress the ducklings born in cap- 

 tivity, and they would not therefore during the 

 first few days of life acquire the alertness of 

 mind and movement shown by the young wild 

 duck. This alone is hardly sufficient to ac- 

 count for the difference — ^which is, to a certain 

 extent, structural and constitutional. We must, 

 however, remember that the vitality of nearly 

 all tame creatures is somewhat lower than that 

 of their wild relatives ; and hence some of the 

 comparative helplessness evinced by the tame 

 duckling may be due to this cause ; more es- 

 pecially since, as is so obvious in many ani- 

 mals, and in civilised man himself, the weakness 

 due to artificial surroundings shows itself in a 

 very marked degree in the production and 

 raising of offspring. Doubtless the protection 

 given to the domestic duck has for many gen- 

 erations prevented the sifting out of those young 

 ones which did not, in wits or physical de- 

 velopment, come up to the standard which, 

 under nature's cruel competitive system, qualified 

 for survival. Obviously among wild creatures 

 which produce more than a dozen young in 

 the course of a season the natural process of 

 elimination must be exceedingly active. Under 



