ple for
some time, and practically all the eggs collected are fertile. It will
be found that at times--particularly whilst the ducks are sitting--the
drakes are a great nuisance, but at this period one can always catch
them and shut them up.

The next point to be considered is as to what food is best for breeding
birds, and I say unhesitatingly maize. There is practically no waste,
and you have not the mortification of seeing crowds of sparrows swoop
down on your ducks' food as you turn away.

Better still, ducks lay capitally on maize, and you may calculate on
obtaining an average of twenty-three to twenty-four eggs apiece from
your ducks if fed carefully.

You will find that strange ducks when they first join your own will not
eat maize, though they soon take to it when they see your own birds
feeding.

It is easy to tell the advent of a stranger by this peculiarity, and by
his generally alert and suspicious manner.

I am a strong believer in the infusion of fresh blood each year, and
this is easily done by catching a few stranger drakes and pinioning
them. These birds, if kept up until their wound is healed, and then
enlarged in good time, will pair with your own birds and often become
very tame. I did not find that pinioning strange ducks answered so well,
as they were very prone to stray and lay their eggs at a distance, and
their young were always shy and difficult to tame; moreover, the ducks
never bred the first year after pinioning, whereas the drakes did. It is
quite a simple matter to catch these wild birds; you have only to
construct an ordinary wire-covered cage, somewhere near the water, and
with the face nearest the water closed by a door; you then accustom your
own birds to feed inside this cage, and you will soon find that in
winter they will come for food as soon as it is light, or rather just as
day is breaking, always provided that you feed them at that time.

You have been careful to leave the door of the cage open over night, and
have put some maize inside the cage. A strong cord attached to the door
is passed across the doorway and round a wooden "runner" on the opposite
post, and then to the back of the cage, where your man lies concealed.
Often during severe weather, which is always the best for this kind of
work, your own birds will be followed by one or two strangers, who in
the half light come inside the cage before realising their mistake. Once
you get them inside the cage with their