144 British Diving Ducks 
Common Wild Duck. Sir Richard considers that there will be no difficulty in getting up 
a good stock in time, as they are as amenable as our Wigeon. A pair of American Wigeon 
were given to Sir Richard by Mr. H. St. Quintin, who bred them at Scampston ; the duck 
was lost, but the male, now at Netherby, is by the American Wigeon drake out of a Mal- 
lard-Wigeon duck. 
Shoveller. — A few Shovellers have been bred in the same manner as other species, 
being started by eggs obtained from Loch Spynie. In 1910 they bred successfully, and 
more return to Netherby each spring. 
Garganey. — This species is not yet established, but examples come every spring, and 
are captured. 
Mandarins and Carolinas are both to be seen in freedom at Netherby. At first 
they bred far up in the fir trees in the old owls' nests, but now have boxes for their accom- 
modation placed in the woods. The Mandarin is a good mother, but the Carolina a bad 
one, so the eggs of the latter are generally lifted and placed under a foster-mother call 
duck, which makes the best of parents. At present the stock is not large, as it is at 
Woburn, but no doubt in time will increase in number. 
Sir Richard has bred some very remarkable hybrids, some in which Wigeon, Mallard, 
Gadwall, and Pintail all have a share, and has proved what was previously unknown to 
naturalists, that nearly all the true surface-feeders are fertile inter se, and on to the fourth, 
fifth, and sixth generation. So far he has not been successful in crossing Teal with any 
other pure species, though I think it is likely he may be successful by mating a male Teal 
with a female Pintail, since the two species are so closely allied. It might be achieved 
with a female Garganey, but that species is far more nearly allied to the Shoveller, with 
which it would probably cross. I agree with Sir Richard that the so-called bimaculated 
duck, of which Suchetet gives eight or nine examples, is probably not a cross between 
Mallard and Teal, but a produce of a male Teal crossed with a hybrid Mallard and Pin- 
tail, the commonest cross known among surface-feeding ducks. 
At Netherby, in 1903, a Teal drake crossed with a Pintail-Mallard duck. Three eggs 
were laid, two of these hatched, and one, which proved to be a duck, was successfully reared. 
This interesting hybrid lived for three or four years at Netherby, but, being full winged, it 
departed, and has not returned. Some of the first hybrids are very beautiful birds, such 
as the Mallard and Wigeon and Wigeon and Pintail. It is interesting to note in some 
cases the predominating influence of the sire ; for instance, the Mallard commands the 
Pintail and Gadwall hybrids, the Common Wigeon dominates the Gadwall, and the 
American Wigeon the Common Wigeon. The Common Teal probably commands the 
Green-winged Teal. Another interesting point in the breeding of ducks is that the drake 
of any species is most likely to be fertile just as he is "going off," wherefore a duck that 
is paired with him, and has laid a large number of unfertile eggs, often lays a fertile egg or 
two at the end of her sitting. 
Several pairs of Baikal Teal have also been liberated at Netherby, and these for a time 
disappeared. A pair of these beautiful ducks, however, came to Netherby in the spring of 
191 2, and succeeded in rearing a fine brood. They probably came from Mr. Maurice Portal 
at Hexham, in Northumberland, as he also had several full-winged pairs. 
Mr. Hugh Wormald, Mr. Meade Waldo, and the Duke of Bedford have all bred large 
