Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 June 1901 — Hard Ducks to Kill. [ARTICLE]

Hard Ducks to Kill.

The screaming Walloon is a hard duck to kill. Its hide is very tough and is thickly covered with feathers and down. Besides the bird is a great diver, one of the kind that used to “dive at the flash” when hunted with the old arm that flashed when fired. It is of very little value for table use, being so tough. The only way to manage it at all is to skin it and parboil it in a big pot with plenty of water. The negroes make caps of Walloon skins. “They are great ducks for diving,” says a well known Tred Avon river progger. “They can dive quicker, go down deeper, remain under water longer and come up farther away than any other duck that frequehts our waters. I remember once I succeeded in killing a Walloon, and, being short of game for the table, I determined to cook my bird. I got a negro to skin it, giving him the hide for his trouble. After being cleaned we put it in a great pot full of water and under it kindled a hot fire. After awhile I wanted to see how the cooking of my duck progressed and lifted the top off the boiling pot, but there was so much steam escaping I could not see into the pot and struck a match over it. The blamed Walloon, sir, dived at the flash of the match. It disappeared and has never been seen since.”—Baltimore Sun.