COURTESY IN BIRDS.—THE DUCK.
[To TRY EDITOR OF TRH " SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—The two illustrations of courtesy in birds given by your correspondent in the Spectator of April 19th are attractive and interesting. Every observer of the habits of our domestic fowls must be familiar with the gallantry of the barn-door cock, who, when he discovers a dainty morsel, summons his harem to the banquet, and stands aloof while the ladies eat, not tasting him- self. It is well that there should be a redeeming feature in the character of that fire-eating, pompous, and tyrannical creature. I think he possesses no other respectable trait, except perhaps his undoubted courage, which continues until he has been once well thrashed, when as a rule he becomes a wretched craven. I regret to say that I have known more than one barn-door cock, who, without having discovered any food at all, would pretend' to have done so, and when some hen, responding to his call, had come within his reach, would conduct himself in a very un- gentlemanly way towards her.
Now the clack is considered a particularly uninteresting and prosaic animal. Yet I venture to affirm that, in point of intelli- gence, social kindness, and sagacity, he is vastly superior to the barn-door or any other cock or hen. I have kept and closely watched hundreds of ducks ; I never saw them fight with each other, nor ever knew a duck the aggressor in a dispute with some other kind of fowl. But I have witnessed striking instances of charity and kindness in ducks. Let one such case suffice. Amongst some fifty or sixty head of ducks and fowls, I once had a solitary, little, old bantam hen. She became blind, or nearly so, and like other birds in that condition, " sulked " as it is called, i.e., kept by herself in a dark, retired. corner of the fowl-house, knowing instinctively that her cruel and cowardly brethren and sisters would persecute her to death if she appeared amongst them. Here she might, perhaps, have starved, but for the constant and sympathetic attentions of a duck. Twice daily, every day so long as the poor bantam lived, some three weeks, this godd Samaritan in the form of a duck was observed to fill her capacious beak with from twenty to thirty grains of barley, with which she proceeded to the fowl- house, and there deposited her store immediately in front of the bantam. Several members of my family, as well as myself, were frequent witnesses of this beautiful incident.
One more anecdote in evidence of the sagacity of the duck. I had five Aylesbury ducks, with a number of fowls. The lord of the yard, a most despotic chanticleer, would never suffer the ducks to feed with his family and friends when, at the regular mealtimes, the grain was scattered for their common use- Ferociously and without pity he drbve. them from the ground. This had been going on for many weeks, and one day at the 12 o'clock repast, the act of expulsion was performed as usual. I was present, and saw the discomfited ducks retire to a corner of the yard. There they evidently held a conference. Having been so engaged some five minutes, they proceeded with deliberate and resolute air, in single file, as is their wont, towards
their oppressor. Having reached the tyrant, they surrounded him, each duck turning his posteriors towards the enemy, and with concerted action fairly hustled him clean out of the yard. To see the surprise of the cock as he jumped from side to side to avoid the pressure of the attacking party, was ludicrous in
the extreme. The victory was complete; from that hour the ducks were never again molested.
I suspect the general notion of the stupidity of the duck arises from his awkward waddling motion as he progresses over the ground. He is not in his natural element on the dry earth. He navigates the water with rapidity, dignity, and grace. In his wild state, he is a perfect artist in aerial locomotion. Observe' the fine, acute angle described by a flock of wild ducks in their rapid flight; with what perfect regularity they break-up and re- form when they change the direction of their route ! And if "quack, quack !" is not a musical sound, the weird whir of a company of ducks piercing through space certainly is: Finally, it is urged against the duck that he eats filth. How little reason is there in this reproach ! Dirt is defined to be matter in the wrong place,•bnt the refuse which the duck enjoys, and which he transforms into the most delicious food that issues from the poultry-yard, is anything rather than matter in the wrong place, and is not therefore, in the case of the duck, dirt.—I am,
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