6 ORNAMENTAL WATERFOWL, 
necessary to plant shrubs and other plants in order to prevent 
the enclosure from becoming an eyesore. I found for this 
purpose nothing better than hardy ferns, angelica, rhubarb, 
gorse, box, privet, Berberis aguifolia (which the birds would 
not touch), with cowslips, primroses, periwinkles, peonies, ivy, 
garter-grass, coleus, &c., which are likewise safe from their 
attacks. Creepers, such as nasturtium, convolvolus, sweet pea, 
and any other succulent shoot, they will eagerly devour, but 
I found that the Kentish hop in its different varieties was 
untouched by them, and formed an admirable cover for the 
bare wire netting. As an embellishment, small rockeries may 
be erected, planted with fern and hardy creepers, serving at 
the same time as resorts and hiding places for the ducks, which, 
in the breeding season especially, like to conceal themselves 
from view, and perhaps make their nests in such secluded 
corners. 
If it is possible to command the banks on both sides 
of the moat or pond, a great deal may be done to convert 
a waterfowl run into a pleasing landscape feature; though it 
should be clearly understood that no persons are to be admitted 
inside the enclosure itself except the attendant or owner, a 
constant influx of visitors proving highly disastrous as regards 
the chances of breeding. 
If a couple of rustic seats can be placed on the unenclosed 
bank, the view across the water, with its flock of many-coloured 
birds swimming, diving, or lazily reposing on the grass and 
flowers will prove an alluring sight, and one calculated long to 
enchain the attention of the naturalist or fancier. 
Where, however, it is not possible to utilise a natural piece 
of water as a duck pond, the fancier may be obliged to contrive 
a small basin dug out in the ground, lined with brick, and covered 
with cement. This is a work easily executed by a competent 
