Ducks rank next to fowls in economic importance. If there were no fowls, domestic ducks would probably be as numerous as fowls are now, for it is much easier to produce eggs and meat from ducks than from any known species of gallinaceous bird except the fowl. To most people who are not accustomed to eating them, neither the flesh nor the eggs of ducks seem quite as palatable as the flesh and eggs of fowls. On the other hand, people accustomed to eating fat ducks and the eggs of ducks, which contain a much higher percentage of fat than hens' eggs, often consider the flesh and eggs of fowls rather insipid. The feathers of ducks are more valuable commercially than those of fowls but are not correspondingly profitable to the producer, because ducks are much harder to pluck.

Description. Common ducks are about the same size as common fowls. The improved breeds vary greatly in size but do not present such extremes of size and diversity of form as are found in the races of fowls. As the duck in a state of nature lives much upon the water, its form is at nearly every point different from the typical form of the fowl. The duck is usually described as boat-shaped, but, while this is a good description, it would be more correct to say that a boat is duck-shaped. The duck was the natural model for the first builders of boats.

The bills of ducks are large, rather flat, and broad at the tip. The species to which most of our domestic ducks belong has no head ornaments corresponding to the comb and wattles of the fowl. There is one variety of this species which has a topknot, or crest. The Muscovy Duck, which is of a different species, has a bare face with a carunculated red skin. The plumage of ducks is very soft and dense, forming a thick covering which, when the feathers are in a natural position, is impenetrable to water and so perfect a protection from wind and cold that hardy ducks are quite indifferent to keen winds and low temperatures, and, if left to themselves, rarely seek shelter in winter. During a heavy snowfall they will get under cover to escape being buried in the snow. At other times they seem quite as comfortable on snow and ice as on the ground. One of the most interesting sights of the poultry yard is to see a duck sit down on the snow or ice when the temperature is below zero, draw up its feet and work them into the feathers at the side of its body until they are completely covered, tuck its bill into the feathers of its back until only the nostrils and a little of the base of the bill are exposed, and remain this way through the coldest nights rather than go a few feet to a comfortable house with warm bedding on the floor. Being better adapted to cold than fowls, they are, as would be expected, much more susceptible to heat and suffer greatly in hot summer weather if exposed to the sun or kept where there is not a good circulation of air.

The tails of ducks are short, spread laterally, and are usually folded close and carried with the tip a little higher than the base. The legs are very short, comparatively slender, and weak. Most ducks walk awkwardly and fall down and flounder about helplessly when they try to run. The legs of a duck are so weak that it is not safe to catch or handle them by the legs, as fowls are usually caught and handled. It is very easy to break or dislocate the leg of a duck in this way. Hence, the usual method is to catch and carry them by the neck, which is very strong. Most persons who are not used to handling ducks are afraid of choking them by grasping the neck firmly, but there is very little danger of this. The feet of a duck are webbed between the forward toes, which makes them more serviceable as paddles in swimming. They are not suited to perching. There is a wild tree duck, and it is said that the domestic Muscovy Duck sometimes alights in trees or on objects above the ground, but the familiar kinds of ducks rest only on the surface of the land or on the water.

Although the males average a little larger, the male and female of the same stock are usually nearer the same size than in gallinaceous birds. The only marks by which sex can be distinguished in all ducks are the voice and the presence or absence of the small curled feathers on the tail which characterize the males. In party-colored varieties the color markings of the male and female are sometimes different. The "quack" of the duck is the note of the female; the male makes a very subdued similar sound, comparing with it as a hoarse whisper compares with the natural tones of the human voice.

The duck derives its English name from its habit of ducking its head into the water in search of food at the bottom of the shallow waters, which it prefers. The term "duck" is applied to males and females collectively, and also to the female as distinguished from the male. The male is called a drake. The name "drake" is supposed to be derived from an Old German word meaning "the chief duck." Any one who is familiar with the habits of ducks will see at once the appropriateness of the term. Ducks often march in single file, and when they do so, all the drakes in a group go first, the ducks following them, usually with a little space between. So if there is only one male, he marches a little ahead of his flock, like a commander. Young ducks are called ducklings, the name being applied to both sexes. In our language there are no special terms applying to a young duck and a young drake as distinguished from adult birds.

Origin. Useful domestic ducks are of two species. All the breeds of this class, except the Muscovy Duck, are derived from the wild Mallard Duck, specimens of which are still frequently captured and domesticated. The Mallard takes very readily to domestication. Although in the wild state it is a migratory bird, in domestication it soon becomes too heavy to fly far. After a few generations in domestication it becomes as large as common domestic stock, loses its power of flight, and cannot be distinguished from stock that has been domesticated for centuries. Mallard Ducks captured in the wild state and kept in captivity have been known to lay from eighty to one hundred eggs in a season, which is as many as the average domestic duck lays.

Fig. 122. Domesticated Mallard Ducks, Brook View Farm, Newbury, Massachusetts

When ducks were first domesticated is not known. The figure of a duck was used in the earliest Egyptian hieroglyphics. As the Mallard is widely distributed and so easily tamed, and as domestic ducks of the same type (but apparently not related in domestication) are found in widely separated parts of the earth, it is plain that the distribution of domestic ducks has been less dependent upon the movements of the human race than the distribution of the fowl. Wherever at any time in the history of the world male and female wild Mallards happened to be caught and kept in captivity, a domestic race might be developed. A missionary who went to Africa in 1885 and worked among the Bakubas—a people more than a thousand miles from the west coast of the continent—reported that he found there such little mongrel fowls as are common elsewhere in Africa, and a local race of domestic ducks varied in color as are the common ducks of Europe and America, but as large as the Rouen and Pekin ducks. The Bakubas had had so little intercourse with civilized peoples that it was not at all likely that an improved race of ducks had been introduced from the outside world, and whatever possibility of that might be supposed to exist, the fact that the ducks of this country, like the domestic quadrupeds, were dumb indicates that they are a distinct and very old domestic race.

Fig. 123. Colored Muscovy Ducks. (Photograph by E. J. Hall)

It is worth noting in this connection that the missionary, Dr. William H. Sheppard, found it the accepted opinion among this savage people that, by a process of natural selection, the character of dumbness had been acquired by the domestic animals, to which it gave a measure of protection from wild enemies in the forest around them. It seems wonderful that the theory of evolution was found out by such people before it was developed by modern scientists.

The common duck. Like the ordinary mongrel fowl, the common duck (sometimes called the puddle duck, because, when it cannot find water elsewhere, it appears to be perfectly satisfied with the filthiest puddles) is much the same in all parts of the world and is a very inferior bird in comparison with ducks of the improved races. Common ducks are usually very slow growers and weigh at maturity from three to four pounds each. As a rule they are very indifferent layers, laying only in the spring. They are of various colors.

Improved races. Nearly all our improved races of ducks are of foreign origin. At the poultry exhibition at Boston in 1849 the only kinds exhibited were the Aylesbury, the Muscovy, and the ornamental Wood ducks.

The Aylesbury Duck is a large white duck developed as a local variety in the vale of Aylesbury, in England. It has a flesh-colored bill, and legs of a pale orange color. Although the favorite market duck in England, and early known in America, it never became a favorite here.

The Muscovy Duck is, as has been stated, of a different species from our other useful breeds. It is a native of South America and is supposed to have been taken to Europe in the seventeenth century. It was probably brought to North America from Europe less than a hundred years ago. It differs from ducks of Mallard origin in several other particulars besides the naked head with its bright-red, carunculated skin. The male is very much larger than the female. The tail is longer and more depressed. There is an entire absence of red pigment in the plumage. The natural color is black and white, unevenly distributed. This variety is called the Colored Muscovy Duck. Many specimens are nearly black. The White Muscovy Duck is an albino variety. By crossing these two varieties a blue variety is sometimes obtained, but, although Blue Muscovy Ducks have been made at various times, fanciers have never taken enough interest in them to encourage the originators to continue their breeding.

The Rouen Duck takes its name from the town of Rouen, in the north of France, though the type seems to have been common over quite a large area and not peculiar to the vicinity of that town. It is like the Mallard in color, and is just such a duck as by good care and selection for size might be developed at any time from common ducks of that color. Rouen Ducks are said to have been well known in the south of England early in the nineteenth century. When they were brought to this country is not known. Although for a long time they have been familiar to those who attend poultry shows, and have been widely distributed in small numbers, they have never been extensively bred because the Rouen, having dark plumage, is not desirable for the production of young ducks for market. When mature it dresses clean and the quality of its flesh is unsurpassed.

Fig. 124. Rouen Ducks, Brook View Farm, Newbury, Massachusetts

The Cayuga Duck is an improved black duck developed about the middle of the last century in Cayuga County, New York. Some early accounts of its origin stated that it was a domesticated wild black duck, but it is much more reasonable to suppose that it was developed by selection from black and nearly black common ducks.

Fig. 125. Flock of Pekin Ducks

The White Pekin Duck is a Chinese breed closely resembling the Aylesbury Duck of England. It has an orange-yellow bill and legs. No large ducks of other colors than white have ever been brought to this country or to Europe from China. As far as is known, the importations from China to England and the United States consisted of only a few birds and were made about 1872-1875. Information about these is not very definite. The most commonly accepted version is that they were brought to England in 1874 and to the United States from England in the following year, but some accounts say that both England and America received them direct in 1873, and one account places the first importation to England in 1872. The exact truth is not of importance in such a matter, but those who are interested in the remarkable developments in duck culture which followed the arrival of this breed in the Western World naturally wish to know the facts. All accounts agree that there were only a few ducks brought from China. In England the Pekin became quite popular at once. It was hardier and more prolific than the Aylesbury, and was used largely in outcrosses, to give vigor to Aylesbury stock. In America it became immensely popular in a few years. It was found to be remarkably well adapted to intensive methods of poultry keeping, and large duck farms were built up; some of these made very large profits for long periods of years.

The Indian Runner Duck is a small, active duck which originated long ago as the common duck on the meadows of certain marshy districts in the Netherlands. The peasants of these districts compelled their ducks to forage for their food, and so developed ducks with a more upright carriage and stronger legs than the other races. In the Netherlands these ducks are of all colors.

Fig. 126. Indian Runner Ducks. (Photograph from owner, Clayton Ballard, White Pine, Tennessee)

Ducks of this type, in color white with fawn-colored markings, were introduced to poultry fanciers in England in 1893 or 1894 as Indian Runner Ducks. It was said that they had been first brought from India to Cumberland fifty or sixty years before, and that ever since that time they had been bred pure by a few breeders and more or less mixed with the common stock of that section by many others. The story of their history in England is much more plausible than that of their origin in India. When the breed was shown on the Continent of Europe it was at once recognized by fanciers there as an improved variety of a common duck.

Compared with other ducks the Indian Runner is a remarkable layer, but it does not, as many admirers of the breed claim, surpass fowls in egg production, and the market for duck eggs is so limited that it is easily overstocked.

Fig. 127. Flock of White Indian Runner Ducks. (Photograph from Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture)

Blue Swedish Ducks and Buff Orpington Ducks are simply color varieties of an improved type of the common duck. There are several other quite well-marked varieties in Europe that have not been seen in this country.

Ornamental ducks. The ornamental ducks of the same species as the common duck, and derived either from common ducks or directly from the Mallard, are the East India Duck, the Black, White, and Gray Call Ducks, and the Crested White Duck. The Call Ducks are so named because their persistent quacking makes them valuable for calling wild ducks within range of the guns of hunters, and they are much used as decoys. They are very small and were produced by dwarfing common ducks. The name "gray," to describe the colored variety, is misleading. The color is like that of the Mallard but of a lighter shade. Some Mallards are quite as gray as the average Gray Call Duck. The Black East India Duck is a dwarf black duck differing so little from the Call Ducks as to leave no doubt, in the mind of any one acquainted with the mysteries of making and naming breeds of poultry, that, like the Call Ducks, it is of European origin.

Fig. 128. Blue Orpington Ducks. (Photograph from owner, Sunswick Farm, Plainfield, New Jersey)

There are many ornamental ducks of other species, the most interesting of which are the brilliantly colored Wood Duck (sometimes called the Carolina Duck) and the Mandarin Duck, which, besides being gorgeously colored, has a peculiar crest and has some of the feathers on its wings oddly curved and spread, giving it a singular appearance. Specimens of these ducks are almost always to be seen in a collection of fancy waterfowl. The Wood Duck is a native of North America, the Mandarin Duck of Northern China.

Place of ducks in domestication. It has been stated that if there were no fowls, the duck would make the best substitute, but as we have fowls in great variety, and as they suit us better than ducks for nearly every purpose for which either might be used, ducks are not often kept in place of fowls. Small flocks of ducks are kept in addition to a flock of fowls, both on farms and by town poultry keepers, either because the owner likes to have them about or to add to the variety of poultry meat for home consumption. The flocks of ducks so kept are of comparatively little economic importance. The ratio of ducks to fowls is only about one to fifty, and the ratio of values of the products of these two kinds of poultry is probably nearer one to one hundred. But when poultry keeping is made a special business, duck growing gives the surest and the largest profits, because ducks can be grown in large numbers more easily than any other domestic animal. The largest permanently successful poultry farms in the world are the great duck farms of the United States.

Fig. 129. Black and White Call Ducks, Brook View Farm, Newbury, Massachusetts

To the fancier, ducks are decidedly less interesting than fowls, not only because, as has already been stated, they present fewer superficial characters upon which he can exercise his art, but because they are, on the whole, less intelligent and less capable of developing confidence in one who handles them. Fowls are much easier to handle in the way the fancier must often handle his birds for thorough examination. As a rule, a fowl quickly learns that it is not going to be hurt, and the more it is handled the tamer it becomes. Young ducks are almost stupidly fearless of the person who feeds them, as long as he goes among them without touching them, but after he catches them they are as stupidly shy. It takes very much more patience to handle ducks as a fancier handles birds than the average human being possesses, and so very few people find them satisfactory for pets after they cease to be a novelty.

Perhaps if the interest in the breeding of ducks for exhibition were greater, stocks of ducks that were free from this timidity could gradually be developed. Individual birds are often found which are not at all shy; and, as a rule, persistent selection for any quality will eventually make it a race characteristic.