134 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



NOTE X. 



I believe it may be laid down as a general rule that all birds of the anas genus may- 

 be domesticated. That beautiful bird, the summer or wood duck, (anas sponsa,) and the 

 black duck, (anas obscura, or nigra,) I have seen in a state of domestication. Mr. Cor- 

 nelius Bergen, of King's county, about the latter end of April, put fifteen eggs of the 

 black duck, on which the old one was sitting, under a dunghill hen ; the next day twelve 

 young were hatched, of which he raised eleven; one of them flew away in August, and 

 returned in November, with a strange male, which was taken and tamed. It mixes readily 

 with the common duck, and their offspring are productive. It lays a great many eggs, 

 and has two broods in a year. Latham says, that the American wigeon, (anas Ameri- 

 cana,) or pheasant duck, as it is called at New- York, has been domesticated ; its flesh is 

 most excellent. 



Lewis and Clarke saw, on the Missouri, a small species of goose differing considerably 

 from the Canadian goose, and beautiful white brants, which, no doubt, might be domes- 

 ticated. 



Scudderhas, in his museum, two specimens of non-descript geese, shot on Long Island, 

 and never seen before. One he calls the brant goose, and supposes it to be a hybrid, pro- 

 duced by the Canada goose and the brant ; the other is of a dark cinerous colour, and is 

 rather smaller than the wild goose. 



The anas cygnoides orientalis, or Muscovy gander, breeds with the common goose ; 

 and the anas ./Egyptiaca, about the size of the common goose, is a beautiful bird ; they 

 are common in gentlemen's ponds in England, and might be introduced into this country. 

 A variety of the anas boschas, or common duck, with a hooked bill, is kept in Ger- 

 many, almost to the exclusion of the common sort. The French, or gray duck, is much 

 larger than the common. 



The swan is domesticated in Europe, and has been brought here. Neither this bird 

 nor the wild goose will breed, unless measures are taken to accommodate them with 

 appropriate places for that purpose. Islets ought to be made in their ponds, surrounded 

 with high grass, in order that they may be allured to make their nests, and where they 

 may sit without disturbance. 



Dr. Barton says, that the Indians of Carolina had domesticated a large bird of the 

 family of the grallai, or waders, and no doubt several birds of this genus might be re- 

 claimed from their wild state, and rendered useful. 



