keenness of their teeth. ----- Footnote 1103: Eupolis, ap. Athen. ix. 32. Footnote 1104: Cf. Suid. v. κολλύρα. t. i. p. 1489. a. Poll. i. 248. Etym. Mag. 526. 26. Schol. Aristoph. Pac. 122. Footnote 1105: Cf. Dioscor. v. 30. ----- Ducks were kept in ponds, carefully enclosed, and, perhaps, covered over that they might not fly away. In the centre were certain green islets,[1106] planted with couch-grass, which the ancients considered as beneficial to ducks as it was hurtful to geese. Their usual food, which was cast in the water encircling the islets, consisted of wheat, millet, barley, sometimes mixed with grape-stones and grape-skins. Occasionally they were indulged with locusts, prawns, shrimps,[1107] and whatever else aquatic birds habitually feed on. Persons desirous of possessing tame ducks were accustomed to beat about the lakes and marshes[1108] for the nest of the wild bird. Giving the eggs to a hen to sit on, they obtained a brood of ducklings perfectly domesticated.[1109] Wild ducks were sometimes caught by pouring red wine, or the lees of wine, into the springs whither they came to drink. ----- Footnote 1106: Geop. xiv. 23. Varro, iii. 11. Ælian. De Nat. Anim. v. 33. Aristot. De Hist. Anim. viii. 3. Athen. ix. 52. Phile, De Anim. Proprietat. c. 14. p. 59. Footnote 1107: Athen. iii. 64. Κουρίδες· καρίδες, ἢ τὰς μικρ`ας ἐγχλώρας, τὰς δὲ ἐρυθρὰς καμμάρους. Hesych. Footnote 1108: Cf. Philost. Icon. i. 9. p. 776. Footnote 1109: Colum. viii. 15. Heresbach. De Re Rust. lib. iv. p. 288. a. -----