RECORD: Darwin, C. R. 1862. Penguin ducks. Journal of Horticulture and Cottage Gardener 3 (30 December): 797.
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed and edited by John van Wyhe 2003-8, 10.2022. RN3
NOTE: See record in the Freeman Bibliographical Database, enter its Identifier here.
PENGUIN DUCKS.1
IF any of your readers have kept Penguin Ducks, and will have the kindness to observe one little point, and communicate the result, I should be greatly obliged. On examining the skeleton, I find that certain bones of the leg are longer than in the other breeds. I formerly kept these birds alive, and as far as I dare trust my memory, they could run considerably faster than other Ducks. Is this the case? It would, perhaps, be a good way to test their running powers to call the two kinds, when hungry, from a distance to their food, and see which arrived first.—CHARLES DARWIN, Down, Bromley, Kent.
1 Indian Runner Duck, a breed of domestic duck with a striking upright posture, discussed in Variation 1: 281-6. See Correspondence vol. 10, pp. 628-9. Darwin wrote to W. B. Tegetmeier (28 [December 1862]) requesting that he find out, perhaps by inserting a query in The Field "which I do not take in" to this effect. Tegetmeier communicated a query to The Field which was published on 3 January 1862 (as noted in Correspondence vol. 10, p. 637). Tegetmeier also submitted a query published in The Field (10 January 1863), p. 9: "My friend Mr Darwin has written to me to ascertain their rate of speed when running as compared with others. As I have never kept this particular variety, I shall be most obliged by anyone who can give me precise information on this point."
Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 15 November, 2023