460 
POULTRY , WATER FOWL. 
pounds the pair being about the outside figure. They are prolific layers, 
the eggs of a pure white color, thinner in the shell than those of the 
Rouen. The ducks are excellent mothers because less unwieldy than 
the Rouens. 
In buying ducks for breeding purposes, arid especially the Aylesbury^, 
avoid those that are down behind, from undue stretching of the abdom- 
inal muscles ; such birds are always sterile, both as to the ducks and 
drakes. / 
GRAY CALL DUCKS. 
IH. Call Ducks. 
Thera are two varieties of small 
ducks that have the same relation to 
the large variety, as Bantams have to 
Barn-yard fowls. One is the Gray 
Call, the other the White Call duck. 
The first is an exact counterpart of 
the Rouen in every respect, even to 
the legs, feet and bill ; the other be- 
ing in color like the Aylesbury, but 
differing in the bill, which is a clear 
yellow, while the Aylesbury is flesh- 
colored. As fanciful things on a piece 
of water, they are very pretty, as to 
either variety. The colored variety WHITE DUCK - 
is much used as decoy ducks for the wild species, being remarkable for 
their loud, shrill and continuous quacking note. Honce their name, as they 
call the game from great distances and lure them within the range of thu 
sportsman’s rifle. 
