Iiowever, worth noting. The ttsiia! color of the head, 
throat and foreneck of the elk is a dark wood brown, 
growing lighter on the nape and back of the neclc. But 
the specimen in question appears, seen from a distance, 
much darker and of quite a different shade from any elk 
head that I have seen. It is a very dark brown, but witli 
a ^distinct, shade of red in it; a color quite different from 
the tinge of yellow which marks the usual elk head and 
neck, and which in fact was seen on. the two other heads 
from the same locaUty. On the whole, this heJid gave 
one the impression of being quite unusual. 
Gkorge Bird Gmnneh,. 
Domesticating Wildfowl. 
BY FRED MATHER. 
The term "wildfowl" is restricted by sportsmen to 
web-footed water fowl, and is never applied to any other 
bird or birds, not even to the waders, and in this sense 
only will the term be used here. 
When nian domesticated the mallard and the muscovy 
duck of tropical America he stopped because he had 
breeds which gave him all the meat he could expect from 
ducks. He then began to encourage "sports," as odd 
specimens are termed, and produced the white ducks, some 
with top-knots and the dwarf "call ducks." He tamed 
the black duck occasionally, but as it Avas no improvement 
on the mallard, he seldom bred it in a pure state. 
Within the last quarter of a century he has bred the so- 
called "Cayuga black duck," which he falselj' claims are 
an improved black duck bred from wild stock caught on 
Cayuga Lake, N. Y. These "Cayuga" ducks are fine large 
birds, but will not become popular with market breeders 
because of black pinfeathers, which disfigure them when 
dressed. But, these alleged descendants from wild black 
ducks show mallard blood in the greenish heads of the 
drakes, and that inevitable badge of mallard blood, two 
curly feathers near the tail. The black drake has no 
gi-een in its head and no other drake but the mallard has 
those curled feathers. . 
With these birds the maximum of duck meat was at- 
tained and all other experiments have been made by men 
who either loved to have beautiful, if not profitable, birds 
about him, or by some sportsman who loved the com- 
panionship of the fowl which he seldom saw alive at close 
quarters. Perhaps it was a little of both sentiments 
which induced me to spend time and money to try to 
domesticate such of our wildfowl as could be obtained, 
with no questions asked about the game laws of the 
States they came from nor how the specimens were pro- 
cured. I wanted the fowl for a good and righteous piir- 
posfe, and "the end justified the means." 
Geese* 
Greene Smith, long since dead, had the greatest collec- 
tion of mounted birds in any private collection in Amer- 
ica. I don't know where it is now, but it was offered to 
the Smithsonian Institution as a gift, on condition of its 
being kept together and known as the "Greene Smith 
Collection." It was declined because the authorities had 
no idea of its extent, but when they learned what this 
man had accumulated at an enormous expense, thej^ recon- 
sidered the decision; but too late, the collection went 
elsewhere. 
I was fishing with Smith one day when my wildfowl 
Were mentioned, and he told me that he was closing out 
his live stock, giving it away, and if I would accept his 
geese he would be glad to give me them. He sent me ten 
Canada geese, six snow geese, nine white-fronted geese, 
four' blue geese and three black brant. Here was a wealth 
of geese, which was beyond my dreams of avarice. In my 
poor way it would have taken years to get these birds, not 
tcr speak of dollars. 
Be it known to all men that the common names of these 
geese, as used above, are tinknown to many gunners who 
shoot these birds, especially west of the Mississippi River. 
There they know but one "goose," the Canada "honker," 
air other geese they call "brant." For instance, the snow 
goose is "white brant" ; the white-fronted goose, with the 
white ' strip across its forehead, is "speckle belly," or 
"speclcled brant," from its variegated breast; the blue 
goose is "blue brant," while the only bird called "brant" 
by gunners on the Atlantic coast is the "black brant" of 
the West. So much for names. 
A Digression, 
In place of a foot-note, which is an abominable thing, 
both to writer and reader," I wish to ask for information 
about Greene Smith. If enough of this can be had, with 
photograph, he will go in with "Men I Have Fished 
With," for while I only knew him slightly and fished with 
him one day only, years ago, I know little of him except 
that he was a son of Gerritt Smith, the famous Abolition- 
ist, who did not approve his son's sportsman's tastes. We 
had a pile of fun on a fishing trip, but the fact that I 
only knew the man slightly was the reason for not includ- 
ing him in the list. He is dead; his cousin, Charley Bac- 
cus, the minstrel, is dead, and all the Fitzhughs of Michi- 
gan and Virginia, who were cousins, are dead, so far as I 
know, but some living men can tell me something of the 
m'an,- just enough to show who and what his great work 
was, and leave the fishing story to me. As a raconteur, he 
could discount Baccus, and was up to the standard of 
Amos Cummings, Polk Miller a,nd the late "Billy" Flor- 
ence. ' 
Domfsticated Geese. 
The origin of our common tame 'white and gray geese is 
invblved in' obscurity, there is no known wild species . 
which resembles tlieni enough to be assigned as the pro- 
genitor of our domestic bird. 
-If guessing were allowable, I would guess that the 
white-fronted goose or "speckle belly," Anser albifrons. 
was the parent bird, basing the guess on shape, carnage, 
hffbi'ts and voice, as I have observed the bird in confine- 
,,03.entv The change in plumage is what has conic to all 
domesticated birds, there arc even white turkeys and 
gxiinea foAvlsy as short a time as they have been tamed. 
.Thfen, there are th& great China and Poland geese, with 
tet(Sbs on their bills, yet ' no rp&re strange than top- 
kftot-s oji ducks. ■ . 
:The. Canada, goose is not the parent of our tame bird, 
FO:^EST AND STREAM. 
■for IJie "honker" is nearer to the swans than the geese, 
and while it will cross with our tame goose, the product 
is a mule. Large numbers of these mongrel geese are 
bred for market, making fine large tender birds. The 
Canada goose has been domesticated, and by this is meant 
unrestricted freedom withotit wing clipping or a desire to 
migrate. 
The brant, "black brant" of the West, has not been 
domesticated. It has been held in captivity with a range 
of grass and water for ten years, and has not laid an egg 
in our latitudes. This is the goose that the arctic ex- 
plorers always saw going north, and on which the theory 
of an open polar sea was based. Up to some twenty years 
or so ago it was said that no man had ever been far 
enough north to find the nest of this bird, Irut I have an 
impression that a few have been found in late years. 
The blue goose was once thought to be the young of 
the snow goose in immature plumage, but is now known 
to be distinct. These birds become "blue brant" and 
"white brant" in the West, where, as has been said, there 
is only one "goose." Neither of these birds have been 
br,ed in captivity, as far as I know, and I had them in 
my grounds at Honeoye Falls, N. Y., for three years, and 
gave them to the Philadelphia Zoo and to Central Park 
in 187s, where they may be yet. Mr. T. Treadwell, East 
Wiliiston, N. Y., has had them for ten years without 
getting an egg from one. 
The Egyptian goose is a small bird, the shapeliest of 
all gee.se, and is most beautifully parti-colored; it is to the 
geese what the wood duck is among ducks. It is seen at 
our poultry shows as a curiosity, but is not common in 
j\merica ; it is said to have bred in England. 
The Ducks. 
Leaving outjhe three sheldrakes, Jordan records thirty 
species of ducks, "in the district north and east of .the 
Ozark Mountains, south of the Laurentian Hills, north of 
the southern boundary of Virginia, and east of the Mis- 
souri River, inclusive of marine species." This from his 
".Manual of Vertebrates." 
Discarding all the "old squaws," "sea coots," whistlers 
and other birds, which cannot be confined to a diet of 
grain, vegetable and such animal food as our tame dttcks 
get, there are ten American ducks well worthy of 
domestication and of keeping pure, by one who loves to 
have .such things about him. Few know how beautiful a 
living wood duck or teal is, or how one gets to love them 
and have them about. What if a green-winged teal, the 
smallest of all ducks, is no larger than a pigeon ; the ques- 
tion is not one of meat, as it was with primitive man 
when he domesticated the mallard. I have spent more 
dollars than I could well afford on this fancy, and if 
wealthy would prefer it as a "fad" to any other. A few 
surplus birds were sold, but not enough to pay for many 
wild birds which came dead, when the only thing being left 
was the express charges. Then there was food, loss by 
minks and other vermin ; but I never faltered. When 1 
was forced from my home in the country by a contempt- 
able politician, who did not know that a canvasback in 
evening dress was a bit better than a clam chowder in 
shirt sleeves, my pets had to find other quarter.^. Ail my 
wqrk in this line Was broken up. and it is well 
worth while for some man to take it and carry 
it on. The fact is that I did it mi amtme', hut 
really could not afford to carry out the work as it 
should be done; see my remarks on canvasback ducks be- 
low. 
Pinioning Wild Birds. 
When you get a "wild bird never clip a wing, unless as a 
preliminary to pinioning shortly after. When you cut 
the stiff quills of the primaries, they will split in time and 
become like "hang nails" on a human hand; they split up 
into the flesh and become sore, and do not shed, some- 
times causing blood poisoning. If they shed and new 
feathers grow, the bird must be caught "and clipped twice a 
year, with a chance of its escape. 
A bird once pinioned needs no more attention and is 
prevented from flying while it lives. Only one wing must 
be pinioned so that an attempt to fly turns it over on the 
ground. Lay the bird on its l3ack, wrap a towel about one 
[Marcm 18, i8g 
wing and the body, leaving the other free. Have your 
assistant, who holds the bird, press his thumb on the main 
artery where he feels the pulse, at the point marked P in 
the illustration. Pluck the fine feathers between the joint 
A and the line C, and also four of the secondary feathers 
whose quills come in the line of the proposed cut, B. 
Never unjoint the wing at A; it leaves a large knuckle 
which will continually get bruised and sore. No .surgeon 
would amputate a leg or an arm at a joint. 
Having bared the part of feathers, make a cut on the 
line B, from close to the junction of the little thumb E, to 
the wing. If you cut on the line C, there will be several 
secondary feathers left, and birds so pinioned can often fly 
over a fence and for some distance. There is merely a 
skin over the two bones on the line B, and but a trifling 
cut need be made. Then with a stout knife cut the bones, 
taking care not to cut the skin back of them. Turn up 
the ends of the bones : skin back to the dotted line D, thus 
leaving a flap to turn over the amputation. Stitch this flap 
over the wound with three or four stitches of sewing 
silk, no cotton ; bend down the little thumb with the 
sillc so that the scar will always be protected, and let the 
bird go. 
Properly performed there should be no loss of blood, to 
speak of, and the wound will heal in three days. 1 once 
pinioned twelve ducks inside an hour, and if they had been 
handed me without delay, I could have easily made the 
number fifteen. Care mvtst be taken that no bone pro- 
trudes or the wound will never heal, I have brought 
pinioned birds with protruding bones, where some- 
thoughtless fellow had merely chopped the wing off with 
a hatchet. Such birds are always poor and will never 
breed. Of course, I amputated the wing above the joint 
A, and made a clean job and a healthy bird. 
With young birds, at six or eight weeks old, or as soon 
as the pinfeathers start, all that is necessary is a pair of 
sharp scissors to clip the line B, leaving the thumb. 
Ankylosis. 
Now I am not a surgeon, if what is written here has a 
flavor of the scalped ; but by the way, I own a set of dis- 
secting instruments, picked up in a Bowery pawn shop 
for a trifle many years ago, when I began to study the 
anatomy of fishes, and found that some knowledge of all ~ 
vertebrates was needed. Then, to work out those 
pharyngeal teeth which cyprinoid fishes carry in their 
throats, and by which the scientific duffers separate them 
from others which are outwardly like them, I had to learn 
to use a watchmaker's glass and hold it in one eye, while 
with a toothbrush in one hand and a bone in the "other, a 
few faint teeth were brought to light before the double- 
jointed name of a 3in. fish could be recorded. That's 
ichthyology; but that eye glass is used constantly on 
slivers and other things ; couldn't keep house without one. 
If the boys on the back seats don't know what ankylosis 
may be, let some body tell them that it is merely a Greek 
term used in pathology for a stiff joint. Our joints must 
be used or they protest, as we see when we have been 
"cramped up" in a car or coach all day. Keep an elbow 
or knee in a fixed position for three months, more or 
less, and it is no longer a joint, the disease known as 
ankylosis has set in, and there you are. 
When a bird is pinioned, the mutilation is plainly shown 
when it stretches its wings for exercise of its joints, but 
when the wings are closed, only a careful observer would 
note that the primaries of only one wing reached above the 
back. I would not now pinion a bird larger than a mal- 
lard ; because the bones are large, the birds are heavy, and 
there is a better way to do it, so that when at rest, the 
birds are perfect, and only when they stretch their wings 
is there any evidence that they are not symmetrical. 
This plan is best for geese, pelicans, sandhill cranes, 
swans and other large birds. The tools are fine soft cop- 
per wire and an awl of proper size. 
Have an attendant, or two to hold the bird, which must 
be blindfolded. Draw the wing back at the joint marked 
A in the cut; drill holes in several of the primaries and 
• secondaries, marked i and 2; put the wires through in 
several places so as to keep that joint from moving; 
fasten the wires and the job is done. 
The joint will become ankylosed before the next moult, 
the feathers will be shed, but that wing can never be 
extended for flight, yet the bird is perfect. We occasion- 
ally meet men with stiffened joints, caused by improper 
treatment, but there is no suffering after the first few 
days of so confining a joint, nature cares for that, and 
while this treatment is best for large birds, I am not sure 
but it would be best for smaller ones. 
The Teals. 
Of the cittnamon teal I know nothing, but have owned 
and bred both the blue- wing and the green -wing. If 
there is a wild duck that inherits less fear of man than 
these two teal I doit't know it. Of the two perhaps the 
shghtly larger blue-wing is quickest to make friends with 
man, but here is a story of the green-wing. 
At the New York fish hatching station at Cold Spring 
Harbor, Long Island, I had a fair collection of my pets. 
There was a long, no-account pond made by throwing up 
a highway, and in this the tide rose and fell. A picket 
fence on one side and poultry netting on the other, held 
a few ducks, some green-wing teal among them. Every 
day, and several times a day, I took them- water cress, duck 
weed, lettuce, cabbage, or other delicacies, in addition to 
their grain and animal food, and always talked to the 
birds as they fed. Talking is a most important thing in 
the domestication of wildfowl, as it is in the training of 
domestic animals. The talk was always the same : "Hello, 
little birds; I never did see such pretty little birds; come 
up here now and get some good things." There was no 
thought that the words would be understood, but there 
was finally a distinct connection between them and the 
feeding that when the corduroy working coat was left 
off and a morning trip to the city in frock coat and "nail- 
keg" hat was in order, the flock would follow me when I 
was outside the picket fence if I saluted them with: 
"Hello, little birds," etc. 
May came, and the flock was short one female green- 
wing. With an anathema on all minks and weasels, there 
was work to be done in the hatchery, and the little teal 
was forgotten until one morning she appeared on the pond 
with four fluffy little balls of down, about as big as a piece 
of soap after a hard day's washing. _ They could swim 
well, and had implicit confidence in their mother, who evi- 
dently thought them young teal, but they could have 
taken refuge in a .10 bore gun with room to spare. I 
called the men from the hatchery, and we netted the 
family out. Mr. Teal was off conviving with friends, and 
paid no attention to the raid on his family; but, Mrs. 
Teal, when captured, looked up at me and remarked: 
"Quack, quack," and was answered in the same language. 
This was satisfactory, and when she was put in a special 
pool with her young, she seemed to realize that man was 
not only her friend, but the friend of all that she held most 
dear, and would, mother-like, give her life for. 
As the blue-wing teal is the easiest to approach of all 
wild ducks, so their young are naturally tame. I would 
much like a chance to try the effect of keeping the 
young of both these teal without pinioning, as has been 
done with mallards. 
Wood Ducks. 
I have bred more of these beauties than any other duck. 
When I began the work they were the only wild duck that 
I could get in quantity. They were netted in great num- 
bers in Michigan for market, and as I would pay several 
times the market price, I bought large numbers, and 
helped stock zoological gardens in Europe. In the late 
60s and early 70s not one bird in ten would lay eggs for 
me, but T raised a few. Then when 1 left Honeoye Falls, 
I 
