THE GAME BREEDER 



193 



WILD DUCKS? 



We printed the above picture of ducks 

 on the cover of the January issue and 

 asked our readers their opinion about 

 the birds. We had already written the 

 owner of the birds suggesting that his 

 ducks appeared too heavy for sporting 

 purposes and that they appeared not true 

 to the type of wild mallards. The owner 

 says the ducks are descended from wild 

 mallards trapped in Iowa and we have 

 no doubt he is sincere in believing they 

 have not been crossed with other ducks. 

 This, however, may have happened 

 without his being aware of it if his 

 ducks were permitted to fly about and 

 visit other farms. They may, too, have 

 been visited by other ducks without his 

 knowledge. 



Our readers have taken a great inter- 

 est in the picture and our inquiry which 

 accompanied it, many have written their 

 opinions. Some of them are printed be- 

 low: 



It cannot be denied that thousands of 

 ducks are owned by breeders and sport- 

 ing clubs which are not true to type. We 

 have seen many of these birds at various 



shoots which were strong on the wing 

 and afforded excellent marks. We have 

 seen other birds which were too heavy 

 and which did not fly as fast as is de- 

 sirable. Many of the ducks owned by 

 sportsmen in America are descended 

 from English stock and it is well known 

 that some of the English game farmers 

 crossed their wild mallards with domes- 

 ticated birds hoping to get larger birds 

 and birds which could be handled easily. 

 They have seen their mistake and for 

 years the sportsmen have been trying to 

 improve their stock by the introduction 

 of wild blood. There is a big demand 

 in America for fresh trapped mallards 

 for the same purpose. These command 

 better prices than the half-breeds but 

 they are not so easy to handle and usu- 

 ally do not breed the first season. 



Here are some of the letters about 

 the ducks from widely separated points: 



Editor Game Breeder : 



Your valuable magazine reached my desk 

 this morning and of course the first thing that 

 caught my eye was the picture of some "mal- 

 lards" on the front p?g€. Also turned at once 

 to page 111 as directed and noted with very 



