Feeding Wild Ducks on Sodus Bay, N. Y. — Sodus Bay, one of the 
largest bays on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, was the scene of an 
interesting experiment in the feeding of wild ducks during the months of 
February and March, 1913. The bay, which is a large irregularly shaped 
body of water, containing several islands, is frequented in the spring and 
fall by large numbers of ducks. The winter was unusually mild up to the 
first of February, and many ducks remained on a large area of the bay which 
was open, and where they apparently found plenty of food. About 
February 1 the weather turned suddenly cold, with heavy snow storms and 
high winds. This caused the bay to freeze entirely over, preventing the 
ducks from reaching there feeding grounds. On February 4 the weather 
was very stormy, and several thousand ducks were noted in places still re- 
maining open. On February 5 Mr. Claude T. DeVille, the state game 
protector at Sodus Point, noted that the ducks were flying to places kept 
open by men harvesting ice. The ducks were very fearless and were appar- 
ently suffering from lack of food. On the succeeding day, February 6, he 
obtained a quantity of wheat, and tried feeding the ducks. The grain was 
readily eaten and he immediately wrote the New York State Conservation 
Commission, notifying them of the presence of the ducks and the necessity 
of relief measures. The Commission promptly responded, and on February 
10, Mr. DeVille received word to purchase grain and feed the ducks. He 
first tried feeding by throwing the grain in the water, but the ducks were so 
weak that they apparently had difficulty in reaching bottom in sixteen feet 
of water. This fact alone shows the extremes to which the ducks were 
reduced, as they were mainly Bluebills, Redheads and Canvasbacks, 
all of which feed at considerable depths. He then tried placing the grain 
on the ice on a place scraped clear of snow near the edge of the open water. 
This proved successful, as the ducks immediately came out on the ice, 
feeding like barnyard fowls. At one place near where men employed by 
the Northern Central Railway Co. were harvesting ice, there were often six 
or seven hundred ducks feeding at one time. The ducks were fed in this 
manner at all the places which remained open, which varied from three 
or four to six or eight. They were fed at least once and often twice each 
day, and during the period from February 10 to March 10, when the 
feeding was discontinued, thirty-eight bushels of wheat were fed. 
The ducks soon learned to look for the grain and upon seeing Mr. DeVille 
starting out on the ice, would fly to the places where the grain was placed. 
