Buffon, in his natural history, relates the following, as a mode by which the Chinese catch Ducks.
    The duck catcher ascertains a place, in a small lake or still creek, where a flock is in the habit of swimming apparently for amusement, an hour or two each day. In this place he sets afloat several calabashes, or gourds, the company of which on their first return the ducks do not seem to relish; but seeing no harm done, their shyness gradually wears off, and at length they swim among the calabashes with perfect unconcern. When this degree of familiarity is attained, the duck catcher puts a large calabash over his head, with holes for his eyes, and wades gently into the water, with his head only above the surface, till he finds himself in the midst of the ducks, when he seizes them, and continues to draw them under water by the legs, till he can secure no more to the girdle fastened for the purpose around his waist. The next day he resorts again to the same stratagem, with a similar success.
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