26 
FANCY WATERFOWL. 
true value of this species lies in its readiness 
to hybridise with the common ducks, for the hybrids 
thus obtained are of large size and excellent flavour, and 
do not dill'er in bulk according to sex more than ordinary 
ducks as a rule. Although favouring the common duck 
in colour and absence of face wattle, they have the 
Muscovy carriage, power of flight, and perching habits. 
They are, as might be expected, barren, but this is no 
disadvantage when they are to be used as food ; and it 
seems to me that making this cross would be the best 
way of fairly utilising the Indian Runner breed of the 
common duck, whose active foraging habits and laying 
powers are at present somewhat discounted by its small 
size, a fault easily removed by this method. It seems 
that mule ducks of this sort are commonly raised in 
France. I have possessed several in India, and both 
observed and eaten them. Of course, for raising table 
hybrids the white Muscovy would be best. The Mus- 
covy duck is a fair layer, the eggs being white, and 
a better mother than the common duck ; she often nests 
high up, according to her natural habit. Muscovies 
care less for water than common ducks — another prac- 
tical advantage. Their name, by the way, is said to 
have no reference to the old word for Russia, but is 
thought to be a corruption of Musky duck, the oil- 
gland on the drake’s tail distinctly exhaling a musky 
odour. 
With the Muscovy duck ends the series of large 
vicious birds which need space and often separate 
accommodation ; a 1 the species which follow are quiet 
with others on the whole, and may be kept together in 
one enclosure, though as a rule it is best not to have 
more than one pair of each kind. Most of those I shall 
treat of now are considerably smaller than the common 
wild duck, and they include the species commonly 
shown. 
THE MANDARIN DUCK. 
(Aix galcriculata.) 
This species is the most popular of all the small 
ornamental waterfowl, and no wonder, for, excluding 
the Pheasant family, no bird known to the fancier is so 
showy as the drake of this species, nor is any more 
eccentrically decorated among them all. In size the 
Ma ndarin is small, only about seventeen inches long ; 
in build he is very like a miniature Muscovy, but 
stands higher on the legs, and is more abundantly “ fur- 
nished” than any known duck, having a long crest, a 
ruff of hackles round the neck, and the inner web of 
the innermost quill of each wing developed into a fan 
shape, and about three inches broad —an ornament which 
will distinguish him from any bird whatever. He is 
just as eccentric in colour as in form ; the crest is copper 
and green, the face buff, shading to white as it passes 
back to the crest, the hackles bright cinnamon, the 
wing fan also cinnamon, bordered with white and black 
behind and steel-blue below ; the flanks are pencilled- 
buff and the breast maroon, divided in the middle by 
the white of the belly and stern, and separated from 
the flanks by two bars each of white and black. The 
back and tail are green-glossed brown, with a long 
splash of steel-blue down each side of the former ; and 
the wings, except the fan, are of a similar metallic brown 
with a purple bar and silver-grey edgings to the flights, 
which are tipped with steel-blue on the inner web. The 
eyes, which are unusually large for a duck, are dark, 
the small bill rose-pink, and the feet yellow with black 
webs. 
The duck has no wing-far s nor hackle, and but a 
small crest, but her neat l.ea l, large dark eyes, and 
graceful shape make her a noticeably pretty bird, 
although she does not show the pencilling so common 
in the females of the duck tribe, being plain brown 
above, mottled with buff on the breast, and white 
below, with a white ring round the eye. The outsides 
of the flights are silvered as in the drake, and the 
insides dark — a marking which easily distinguishes her 
from any other duck except the Carolina, of which more 
hereafter. Her bill is dull horn colour, and the feet 
duller than the drake’s. 
The drake undergoes a very complete summer change 
in this species, becoming almost exactly like his mate, 
and losing all his furnishing. He often, however, 
retains his pink bill. When he does not, the duck may 
be distinguished by having the blue wing-bar bordered 
below as well as behind with white. With this exception, 
the young drake is like the young duck. 
The Mandarin is a native of Eastern Asia — central 
and southern China, Formosa, and Japan: Amoorland, 
in Siberia, it visits only in the breeding season. 
Although thus affecting warm or temperate countries, 
it is a hardy bird, and few ducks are more ready to 
breed in captivity, while it bears close confinement well. 
Indeed, Miss Hubbard states that a pair will live and 
breed in an enclosure six feet square— not that I should 
care to keep such birds in such close quarters, which are 
only lit in my opinion for a pair of Teal, or better, 
Moorhens or Dabchicks, if one must have waterfowl in 
so small a space. However, this contented disposition is 
much to the Mandarin’s credit, and another good point 
about it is its great activity and energetic disposition. 
Whether on foot, walking or swimming, or on the wing, 
it is active in its movements, and it perches as 
readily as a pigeon. So marked is this propensity, that 
if these birds have to be confined at all it is far better 
to wire over the space and leave them unpinioned, as 
they will make excellent use of scope for flying. In this 
case, some dead branches should, of course, be set up for 
them to perch on, and the nesting-boxes should also be 
placed high up. Another attractive point about this 
lovely duck is that he is, more than any other species, 
“a bird of position,” and much given to showing himself 
off, by raising his crest and slightly expanding his wings 
vertically, so as to bring the wing-fans perpendicular and 
display the beautifully striped flights, while, when 
standing, he often curves his neck back and throws out 
his breast like a Fantail pigeon. He certainly looks at 
such a time as if he were quite conscious of his beauty, 
and his little brown mate, as she caresses his orange 
hackles, must surely admire it. The affection between 
a pair of these birds is most marked ; as above implied, 
they fondle each other’s heads like pigeons, and they 
always keep together. The Mandarin is, however, a 
bird of character, and has strong likes and dislikes. 
Where several are kept together I have seen and heard 
that a favoured drake will attract more than one duck, 
while another will lie left out in the cold, and in 
one case I myself witnessed their preference evidently 
went by the looks of the favourite. Miss Hubbard state - 
that the home-bred Mandarin degenerates in brilliancy 
and in abundance of furnishing, and I have recently 
heard that cheap Continental-bred birds, now much 
imported, are much inferior to wild-caught specimens ; 
and if this is not due to breeding in too close confine- 
ment, it may very possibly be put down to some check 
having been placed on the natural preference by the 
ducks for the handsomest drakes. The Mandarin drake 
must also be brave as well as beautiful, for he is a hard 
fighter with his own sex, and has even been known to 
kill a strange female put with him for exhibition 
purposes. It is well, therefore, not to put two breeding 
pairs of Mandarins in the same enclosure ; with other 
ducks, even their near relative, the Carolina, they are 
quiet enough, though well able to look after themselves 
and hold their own with larger species. In fact, whether 
one considers its activity, courage, affection, and consti- 
tutional vigour, or its remarkably developed plumage, 
which strikes most people as an eccentric product of the 
Fancy rather than of nature, one must pronounce the 
Mandarin to be the ultimate development of the duck 
tribe. 
The eggs of the Mandarin take twenty-six days to 
hatch, and as many as thirty may be laid in a season, if 
the first batch be taken away, though whether this 
forcing be desirable is another matter. The species is a 
favourite one for exhibition, and evidently noods show 
