THE DOMESTIC DUCK. 22 5 



inadvertently to find his way among a herd of cattle, which, de- 

 tecting the imposture, immediately ran at him and chased him about 

 the meadow. He thought himself fortunate in escaping with the 

 loss of his disguise, which he abandoned to the fury of his horned 

 assailants. 



Large numbers of Ducks are taken by means of nets and various 

 snares, which want of space prevents us from here enumerating. 



The Domestic Duck {Anas domestica) is a descendant of the Wild 

 Duck, or, as some think, of the Shoveller. The first tame Duck, 

 the ancestor of a family since so prodigiously multiplied, probably 

 proceeded from an egg which had been taken from some reedy 

 marsh, and hatched under a hen. 



The Duck, however, has been reduced to a state of domesticity 

 from a very remote period, and has been of incalculable utility to 

 mankind, filling in our poultry-yards no unworthy place. Duck 

 eggs are a wholesome and agreeable article of food, and the flesh 

 of the bird itself is most savoury. Epicures highly prized, and 

 rightly so, the pates de foie. de ca?iard of Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nerac, 

 and Amiens (we arrange them here in their order of merit, not 

 according to Baron Brisse's dictum, but following our own estimate 

 of their qualities). Their feathers, although not so valuable as 

 those of the goose, are articles of considerable importance in com- 

 merce. 



Ducks are remunerative to those who rear them, for they are by 

 no means choice in their food ; nothing comes amiss to their palate, 

 whether it be the corn scattered about the yard which is disdained 

 by other fowls, or the leavings of the table and kitchen. All that 

 they require as an essential is to have a little water within reach 

 in which they can paddle at will. 



Duck eggs are often put under a hen to be hatched. When 

 seeking her food, the hen sometimes leads her little flock to the 

 edge of water, to give them a glimpse of its dangers. But the 

 ducklings, impelled by instinct, rush into the element they are most 

 partial to. The poor mother, anxious for the fate of the young 

 giddy-pates, whom she loves as her own offspring, utters cries of 

 terror. She would resolutely throw herself into the stream, and 

 perhaps get drowned, were she not soothed by seeing them swimming 

 about, happy and active. 



There are several favourite varieties of the Domestic Duck, but 

 those of Normandy and Picardy, in France, and the Aylesbury 

 Ducks, in England, are the most profitable. Every nation rears ducks ; 

 but the Chinese undeniably most excel in this art. For hatching 



p 



