130 WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS. — [cmapr. xvi 
home three young wild ducks: two of them turned out to be 
drakes. I sent away my tame drakes, and, in consequence, the 
next season had a large family of half-bred and whole wild ducks, 
as the tame and wild breed together quite freely. The wild ducks 
which have been caught are the tamest of all; throwing off all 
their natural shyness, they follow their feeder, and will eat corn 
out of the hand of any person with whom they are acquainted. 
The half-bred birds are sometimes pinioned, as they are inclined 
to fly away for the purpose of maki:g their nests at a distance: 
at other times they never attempt to leave the field in front of 
the house. A pair or two always breed in the flower-garden. 
They appear to have a great penchunt for forming their nests in 
certain flower-beds, and they are allowed to have their own way 
in this respect, as their elegant and high-bred appearance inter- 
ests even the gardener, enemy as he is to all intruders on his 
favourite flowers. 
These birds conceal their eggs with great care, and I have 
often been amused at the trouble the poor duck is put to in 
collecting dead leaves and straw to cover her eggs, when they 
are laid in a well-kept flower-bed. I often have a handful of 
straw laid on the grass at a convenient distance from the nest, 
which the old bird soon carries off, and makes use of. The 
drakes, though they take no portion of the nesting labours, 
appear to keep a careful watch near at hand during the time the 
duck is sitting. The half-bred birds have a peculiarity in 
common with the wild duck—which is, that they always pair, 
each drake taking charge of only one duck—anot, as is the case 
with the tame ducks, taking to himself half a dozen wives. The 
young, too, when first hatched, have a great deal of the shyness 
of wild ducks, showing itself in a propensity to run off and hide 
in any hole or corner that is at hand. When in full plumage 
my drakes also have the beautifully mottled feathers above the 
wing which are so much used in fly-dressing. With regard to 
the larder, the half-wild ducks are an improvement on both the 
tame and wild, being superior to either in delicacy and flavour. 
Their active and neat appearance, too, make them a much more 
vrnamental object (as they walk about in search of worms on the 
lawn or field) than a waddling, corpulent barn-yard duck. 
There is a very pretty and elegant little duck, which is common 
