=History.=--The White Aylesbury ducks (fig. 3.) are second to the popular Pekins for market purposes, and are bred in large numbers in England and Europe. In this country they are not so extensively bred as the Pekin, neither have they been found so good as the latter. These ducks receive their name from Aylesbury, the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. They are of large size, pairs occasionally reaching the weight of 18 pounds, the male birds weighing 9 or 10 pounds, and the female 7 or 8. Birds weighing 15 to 16 pounds to the pair are the average. =Description.=--The head of the Aylesbury duck is long and neatly formed; the eyes of a deep leaden-blue color; the long, wide bill is of a pale flesh color or pinkish hue, and should be free from dark spots, bills marked with black being a disqualification; the neck is slender, long, and gracefully curved; the body is long and oval; the breast is full and round; the strong shanks are of brilliant light-orange color; the wings are strong and nicely folded; the back is both long and broad, and the tail formed of stiff, hard feathers. [Illustration: Fig. 3.--Group of White Aylesbury ducks.] The soft white plumage is one of the chief attractions of the Aylesbury breed, and like most white plumage has a tendency to assume a yellow hue if exposed to the sun. The beak will also lose its delicate pink hue and become yellow if exposed to too much sunlight in summer. The bill of the Pekin should be yellow, but the bill of the Aylesbury should be a delicate pink or flesh color, and birds intended for exhibition must possess this quality or they will suffer at the hands of the judge. Birds raised for exhibition purposes must be guarded against too much exposure to the sunlight in the summer. Of course, these delicate points are of no consequence to the market poulterer other than to show the true type of the breed. For farm purposes the Aylesbury is to be recommended, second only to the Pekin; it possesses the many good qualities of the Pekin, and can be bred with almost the same success. The advantages claimed for Aylesbury are the ease with which it is acclimated, thriving in every country and climate; its early maturity; its great hardiness; its large size; its great prolificacy, and the real beauty which it possesses. Raisers recommend for raising exhibition birds one drake to two ducks, or two drakes to five ducks, all being allowed to run together. Duck raisers who raise large numbers for market breed them as they do Pekins, using from four to eight females to one male, according to the season of the year. Fresh blood is introduced every year to keep up the size, and breeding stock is seldom kept longer than the second or third year. The Aylesbury being an English duck, it will be of interest to note the methods employed in their native place for raising them, as given by an English writer in the following statements: