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THE TEAL AND ITS KIND.

"I cannot refrain, in this place, from calling the attention, not only of the naturalist, but of the most inexperienced amateur, to this simple yet interesting specimen of ornithological biography (of the Gargeney Duck). It is replete with facts which indicate the true nature of the bird; and of the circumstances by which its affinities, in a great measure, are to be decided. What a fund of valuable information would a collection of such anecdotes contain, if every one, who kept living birds in their possession, would note their manners in the same way, and in the same simplicity of style; and how much might thus be done, more especially by persons abroad, to inform us of the habits of exotic species, of which we as yet know absolutely nothing!"-SWAINSON.

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THESE pretty but provoking little birds, the smallest of our Ducks, are to be seen in almost every collection of water-fowl where there are means of complete incloTheir movements are brisk and lively. The winter plumage of the male is well-contrasted, and cannot be closely inspected without admiration; the female, like most other Ducks, is what is called extremely neat; but there is little in their manner or disposition to afford much interest in observing them. In this respect the contrast is great between them and the intelligent Wigeon; for they are silly, unattachable things, squatting on the ground for supposed concealment under the very eye of the visitor, with the same foolish attempt at cunning which would make an Ostrich hide its head behind a tree or in a tuft of grass, thinking thereby to conceal its whole body. On a large expanse of water they are too small to be of any visible use as ornaments, except in the shape of mere dots. Their escape, moreover, cannot be prevented by mere pinioning alone; they will crawl along drains, wriggle their little bodies through any accidental hole, and must be confined where they are wanted to remain by upright iron railing, a fence of reeds set perpendicularly, or something of the kind,

carefully fixed. Wire netting will not do, particularly if it be intended to associate the Carolina Duck, or other similar birds, with them, for the reason mentioned when speaking of the Wigeon, namely, that these latter certainly will climb over it as easily as a lamplighter runs up his ladder. The railing should also be made rat-proof, according to the very ingenious pattern which may be seen at the gardens of the London Zoological Society. Thus protected and restrained they will thrive and breed in a very limited compass. The merest thread of running water will be sufficient to supply a miniature pond for them, which, with the addition of tasteful breedingboxes, low shrubs, a little rock-work, a few shells, some water-plants, and half-a-dozen gold fish, would serve to make an elegant toy in a lady's flower-garden. Part at least of the bank of the pond should slope gently into the water, to serve as a landing-place, and to afford an easy exit and entrance to the Teal and their young. The bottom should be partly gravel or sand, partly small shingle, and partly mud. Very pleasing designs for these inclosures, of tried practical utility, are to be seen in the various receptacles for water-fowl in and about London. The little isolated nesting-places, fixed on a stake in the middle of the pond, at a level with its surface, are safe from most vermin except rats and stoats (which will readily take the water in search of a dinner), and seem to please the birds, and to make them comfortably at home. The style of the fittings admits of endless variation, according to the taste of the owner. In such a home they will breed freely; but the little ones, as soon as their wings are long enough, will be off, like a swarm of flies, and never be seen more; so that a person may rear them year after year without being at all the better for them, unless a timely check is placed upon their flight by the keeper's amputating knife. It is a pity not to secure all home-hatched birds, as they may perhaps turn out somewhat less intractable than their parents; and the loss of them as a savoury morsel is something;

no Duck can compare with them in flavour, and their price in the market is always high in reference to their size and weight.

Mr. Yarrell says, " in confinement they require grain, which, with the vessel containing it, should be submerged about an inch under water; the corn will thus be steeped and macerated, and at the same time secured from thievish mice and sparrows.

Soft food, such as barley-meal mixed with water, sopped bread, &c., suits them better. When they have young, a little fine pollard or coarse flour scattered on the surface of the water and suffered to spread itself, will be found a convenient and natural mode of feeding them. They will skim it off with their little bills, and suck it down with great delight. The smaller sorts of grain, such as millet and canary seed, make a suitable though expensive variation of their diet. A few small fry and minute fish, as minnows, loaches, and sticklebacks, introduced into their pond, would afford them the amusement of catching them, and would not come amiss when caught. If there is not mud enough in the edges of their pond to afford them a supply of minute insects and larvæ, some finelychopped meat or small earth-worms may occasionally be thrown down to them. I have found a loaf of barleybread a very convenient thing to have in hand for feeding various birds. It may either be given dry in small lumps, or soaked in water, and is nutritious in either state.

Exactly the same domicile and management will suit many other congeneric birds-the Summer Teal, the Carolina Duck, and the curious and pretty Mandarin Duck, which looks very like a piece of animated chinaware. Of this last there are none now (May, 1848) in the country. But as it is more than possible that the "Gardeners' Chronicle" may circulate as far as the Celestial Empire, we will warn those who purchase these and similar curiosities to send to their friends at home, against a trick that is now and then played by unprincipled native dealers. The females of the whole Teal family are so much alike in size,

colour, and markings, that it requires the eye of an experienced naturalist to identify the different species; and, whether to save trouble, or to prevent us from increasing the stock, the Chinese are said to couple dissimilar birds and sell them as pairs, with little fear of the cheat being discovered.

That most lovely creature, the Wood, Carolina, or Summer Duck, Anas sponsa, must also, for the present, be subjected to the same discipline with the Teal. From all that I have seen or heard, on good authority, the hope of their living with us on the same terms as the common Duck must be regarded as visionary. The specimens which are supplied to wealthy purchasers are furnished by importation, not breeding. Numbers die on the voyage from America, or soon after; and, in short, the clearest view of this class of ornamental poultry will be obtained by considering them as aquatic cage birds, and by treating them as such.

The opening paragraph of Audubon's account of the Wood Duck is one of the most beautiful pictures of still life that ever was written. The reader could not fail to be delighted by it. Let him by all means buy the " Ornithological Biography," or hire it; for I cannot rob any preceding author by stealing his "beauties," and sacking the valuables he has acquired by his talent and industry. The form and colouring of this bird are both charming in the extreme, and its size renders it a species much adapted to these small inclosures; but the high price they fetch at the dealers' is alone sufficient to indicate some insuperable difficulty in rearing them here, or elsewhere, in any country from which they could be easily imported. If their affinity to the Teal family affords a correct clue, they are foolish, unimpressible, unattachable, and quite incapable of complete domestication, in spite of Audubon's hope to the contrary. Experience does not allow us to encourage any such hope. Those he had obtained young grew up apace, when I pinioned them all" (a precaution which does not show much confidence in their

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domesticability), "and they subsequently bred in my grounds in boxes which I had placed conveniently over the water;" and so, as we have seen, will Teal, and be off, never to return, the moment their wings are long and strong enough to carry them. "I feel well assured that, with a few years of care, the Wood Duck might be perfectly domesticated, when it could not fail to be as valuable as it is beautiful." True, as to the latter half of the sentence; for in America, where alone ordinary folks can afford to eat them, the flesh is said to be excellent-firstrate, indeed. "But," it is added, "the young birds which I raised never failed to make directly for the Ohio, whenever they escaped from the grounds, although they had never been there before," a trait quite enough to mark their flighty character, without another single circumstance being added. In Dr. Buckland's valuable "Reliquiæ Diluvianæ," this bird is, by a misprint, called Anas sponsor instead of sponsa; but the difference is surely great between a bride and a godfather.

Persons of wealth, with a permanent tenure of their residence, will sometimes choose to inclose their whole pleasure-ground and shrubbery with an adequate iron fence, or a wall. A fountain discharging itself into a basin on a level with the ground is all that is further requisite for forming a collection of the smaller Ducks in such a situation. The great objection to this arrangement is, that it will be almost impossible to exclude rats, which will prey upon the eggs and young, and harass the old birds, if they do not now and then destroy one or two. Incessant hostilities against these pests, and the maintenance of a good out-door she cat, with her family, will keep the nuisance in check. Regular hours of feeding will invite the birds to the fountain; and if the varieties are at all numerous, few sights are more beautiful than such an assembly after they have renewed their plumage, and while their wedding dresses are fresh and brilliant. They may justly rank among the most gaudy and sparkling objects in Nature, with the advantage of brisk and

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