How the three ducklings might have looked.
Three tiny, shivering ducklings, so small that they could fit into the palm of a hand, were discovered alone in Petticoat Lane Market recently. Mummy duck was nowhere in sight and market inspectors (who it is alleged, in a rather predictable turn of phrase, 'went quackers') feared for their safety. It's a mystery how the young pre-fledglings got there - the nearest significant body of water is probably the Thames, around a kilometre away. The ducklings were unavailable for comment. The trio were taken into safekeeping until the RSPCA arrived, but sadly one duckling died. And that's the end of the story. Sorry to keep the details thin - we bashed this piece out quickly so we can spend more time pitching it to Newsnight and HardTalk with Stephen Sackur. Image by ehpien, reproduced under a creative commons license.
