POULTRY. 
263 
Indian file (an instinctive habit still retained), and thus return at even- 
ing to their dormitory, or emerge from it to the edge of the pond or 
sheet of water, over which they scatter themselves ; thus also they come 
to the call of their feeder. 
Ducks should always have a lodging-place of their own; they should 
be separated from fowls, and never housed beneath their perches ; yet 
where fowls are kept, a little contrivance would suffice to make them a 
comfortable berth in a fowl house. In winter, a tliiu bedding of straw, 
rushes, or fern-leaves, should be placed on the floor of their dormitory, 
and changed frequently. More than four or five females should not be 
allowed to a single drake. The duck lays a great many eggs in the 
season ; there are instances in which one has laid as many as eighty- 
five eggs; but these cases arc rare; the female will cover with comfort 
twelve or fourteen, and in most cases is a steady sitter. When she in- 
clines to sit, give her a plentiful nest, with some broken straw or hay 
near at hand, with which to cover the eggs when she leaves them ; as 
nature instructs her to use this precaution, no doubt it is best to give 
her the opportunity. Let her be supplied with food and water directly 
she leaves her nest; and if she choose to take a bath it will do no harm. 
It is common to put ducks’ eggs under hens, and it is ludicrous, though 
somewhat painful, to see the trepidation and anxiety of the foster-mother 
on the edge of a pond, into which the young ducks have plunged, re- 
gardless of her feelings and incessant clucking, a language they do not 
understand. At what age young wild ducks are taken by their parents 
into the water we cannot say; but this is certain, that if young tame 
ducks visit the water too early, they are very apt to become cramped and 
perish. If very young ducklings once become saturated with water, they 
invariably perisb; they are in this respect as tender as young turkeys. 
Ducks, although they float on the water, never become wet (that is, 
when properly fledged), for their plumage throws oft' the fluid, and they 
return dry from the pond ; but ducklings, while yet in the down, get 
wet, and should therefore have sparing access to water until the feathers 
supply the place of the early down. Young ducks are easily reared, 
being fed on meal mixed with potatoes and green meat boiled ; they 
are useful in gardens, which they clear of slugs and snails, without in- 
juring the crops of vegetables. As a caution, we would here observe, 
that the ponds to which they are allowed access should contain neither 
pike nor eels ; and rats should be extirpated. Rats and weasels often 
thin flocks of ducklings, to the great loss and vexation of their owner. 
The Varieties of the Domestic Duck, are the White Aylesbury , large, 
plumage perfectly white, feet yellow, and a flesh-colorcd bill. This is 
one of the best varieties. The llouen duck , a large dark-colored varie- 
ty, is also highly esteemed. The Hook-billed , remarkable for the pecu- 
liar form of its beak. The Penguin duck , which walks, or waddles in 
an upright position, like the penguin ; the Musk duck , so termed from 
the strong scent of musk which its skin exhales. This duck is of large 
size, and its plumage of a glossy blue-black. The East Indian, or 
Buenos Ayres duck , is a small and very beautiful variety, black, with a 
brilliant metallic luster on the feathers. These, and the various colored 
call-ducks, are highly ornamental. 
