288 duck. 



at Etchingham, in Sussex ; the eggs were supported by some small 

 twigs laid crosswise; in addition to which, Col. Montagu mentions 

 one which made a nest in Rumford Tower, hatched her young, and 

 brought them down in safety to a piece of water at a considerable 

 distance. In France rarely seen except in winter; appearing in 

 October, and going north in spring ; they are caught in various 

 manners, but in the greatest numbers by means of a decoy, as in 

 England, of which the following may give an idea. It is generally 

 formed where there is a large pond surrounded with wood, and 

 beyond that a marshy and uninhabited country: producing a quiet 

 haunt. There are several pipes or avenues covered at top with 

 netting, which lead up a narrow ditch that closes at last in a funnel 

 net;* and to facilitate the entry of the Wild Ducks several tame 

 ones, called Decoy Ducks, are used to invite the others, by which 

 means multitudes are annually inticed into the various decoys, and 

 are taken, and sold in the London markets. Use full account of 

 such modes of capture may be seen in Willughby's Ornithology , 

 p. 372, and the Br. Zoology. The allowed season for catching 

 fowl in decoys, is from the end of October till February; not being 

 lawful from the 1st of June, to the 1st of October, under penalty 

 of five shillings for each bird destroyed within that space. f The 

 chief place in France for catching in decoys, is Pieardy, where 

 prodigious numbers are taken, particularly on the River Soame. Tn 

 England the places are various; but chiefly in Lincolnshire, Somer- 

 setshire, &c. It is from the former that London is principally 

 supplied ; and according to the Br. Zoology, in one season, from ten 

 decoys, in the neighbourhood of Wainfleet, no less than 31,200 were 

 produced, but in these were included several other species, and in 

 particular Wigeon and Teal are reckoned as one : this quantity 

 makes them so cheap on the spot, that the decoy men would be glad 

 to contract for years at ten-pence the couple. Another mode was 



* To set up trade it should seem to require no small capital, for in oue decoy in Pieardy, 

 nets are used to the amount of 3000 livres. — Hist, des Ois. f Act. 10. Geo. If. ch. 32. 



