Chapter II: Ducks, Geese, Swans, and Pelicans (1)

Willoughby distributes the Palmipedes into such as have the back toe, and those in which it is absent; the former, again, into such as have the four toes webbed together, and such as have the back toe separated from the others. These latter he again subdivides into narrow-billed and broad-billed; the former having their bills either hooked at the end or straight and sharp-pointed. The hook-billed have them either even or toothed on the sides. Those which have them straight or sharp-pointed are either short-winged and divers--such as Doukers and Loons--or long-winged, such as Gulls. The broad-billed are divided into Ducks and Geese. The Ducks are either Sea or Pond Ducks. "The Ducks," he adds, "have shorter necks and larger feet, in proportion to their bodies, than Geese. Howbeit, the biggest in this kind do equal, if not exceed, the least in that. They have shorter legs than Geese, and situated more backward, so that they go waddling; a broader and flatter back, and so a more compressed body; and, lastly, a broader and flatter bill. Their tongue is pectinated, or toothed, on each side, which is common with them and the Geese."

"The Ducks are of two sorts, either wild or tame. The wild, again, are of two sorts:--1, Sea Ducks, which feed mostwhat in salt waters, dive much in feeding, have a broader bill (especially the upper one), and bending forward to work on the stem; a large hind toe, and then, likely for a rudder, a long train, not sharp-pointed. 2, Pond Ducks, which haunt plashes, have a straight and narrower bill, a very little hind toe, a sharp-pointed train, a white belly, speckled feathers, black, with glittering green on the middle wing, with a white transverse ring on either side."

According to Mr. Yarrell, the first division of Ducks comprises the Wild Duck, Shieldrake, Muscovy Duck, Gadwall, Shoveller, Pintail, Widgeon, Bimaculated Duck, Garganey, and Teals, all of which exhibit length of neck, wings reaching to the end of the tail, tarsi somewhat round, hind toe free or without pendent lobe. They generally frequent fresh water, but pass much of their time on land, feeding on aquatic plants, insects, worms, and sometimes fish. The second division includes the Red Crested Duck, Poachard, Ferruginous Duck, Scaup, Tufted Duck, Harlequin Duck, Long-tailed Duck, and Golden Eye; while between the two divisions he places, as possessing some of the characters of each, the Eider Duck, King Duck, Velvet Duck, and Scoter.

McGillivray accepts this arrangement, with some slight variations, remarking that the differences as to habits, as well as structure, are quite obvious; and he gives us a graphic description of the three types. "High in air," he says, "advancing on gently-arched and outspread wings, that winnow a passage for them over the far-spreading sea, is seen advancing from the north a flock of large birds, that are observed, as they draw nearer, to be arranged in lines ever undulating and changing figure; while their clear cries seem to express their joy at having escaped the dangers of their long passage over the waste of waters. Now they descend, mingle their ranks, wheel in dislocated bands, unite, sweep along, and, clamorous in their joy, at length alight on the open pasture. Having rested awhile and plumed themselves, they begin to move about in search of food, walking sedately and with decurrent necks, stretching their strong bills to the ground, from which they wrench the roots of the grasses, and pluck the herbage. Prudent, however, as they well need be in an unexplored tract, and careful of their safety, they neither scatter about at random nor leave themselves subject to surprise. Should a suspicious object present itself, one of them presently erects himself and emits a warning cry, on hearing which they all rise together, raise their necks to their full stretch, and carefully inspect the ground. Should the danger be imminent, they run a few paces forward, spread out their large wings, ascend into the air, and betake themselves to some distant place." These are of the first division, or _Cribatores_, as Mr. McGillivray calls them--more useful to man than the other aquatic birds, many of them not only affording him savoury food, but feathers, quills, and down; while some have become domesticated, and rival the Gallinaceous Fowls in utility: these are the Ducks and Geese of the poultry-yards and commons.

These web-footed birds, the _Lamellirostræ_ of Cuvier, are distinguished from all others by their laminated bills, which are thick, have a covering of soft skin, also small teeth placed along the edge. The tongue is fleshy, broad, and dentated on the edge. They are aquatic, and principally inhabit fresh-water lakes and rivers. Their wings being short, and living chiefly on the water, they are badly qualified for a sustained flight. Their food is mostly vegetable.

Numerous flocks of Ducks, of various species, frequent the sea-shores and the rivers of all parts of the world. No family of birds seems more profusely distributed over the world of waters, and some of them are remarkable for the brilliant colouring of their plumage. On land, the waddling gait of Ducks is anything but graceful, but in the water their appearance is alert and elegant. Look at them as they glide lightly over the surface of the stream, or mark them as they plunge into its bosom with a splash, either to bathe themselves or seek their food! All their movements here are executed with graceful ease, and it is easy to see that they are in their natural element. They love to paddle in the mud, where they often find a sufficient supply of food to satisfy their voracity. But no description of animal matter comes amiss to them, whether water-insects, worms, slugs, snails, small frogs, bread, fresh or tainted meat, fish, living or dead. They are such gluttons, that we have seen two of them fighting and disputing for more than an hour over the skin of an eel, or some other garbage, which one of them had partly swallowed, whilst his antagonist was dragging at the other end. To this division of the Anatidæ belongs the Mallard, or Wild Duck, which may be considered typical of the others, and which is generally supposed to be the ancestor of the Domestic Duck.

THE COMMON DUCK, OR MALLARD.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Mallard: McGillivray, Jenyns. Common Wild Duck: Montagu, Selby.

LATIN SYNONYM.--_Anas boschas_: Linn., Latham, Jenyns, Bonaparte, Temminck.

FRENCH SYNONYM.--_Canard sauvage_: Temminck.

The plumage of the Wild Duck is dense and elastic. The head, throat, and upper part of the neck of the male are adorned with hues of a bright emerald green, shot with violet; its breast is of a purplish brown; its back is ashy brown, sprinkled with greyish-white zigzag bars; the four feathers in the middle of the tail, curling up at the end in a semicircle, are of a blackish hue with a green reflection; its length is about twenty-four inches; length of wing, thirty-five inches. The female, which is always smaller than her mate, does not possess the bright colours which adorn the Drake. Her plumage is brown and russet grey. Individuals sometimes, though seldom, vary. Sir William Jardine states that he has seen Drakes having the upper parts of a bluish grey, decreasing in depth of colouring down the breast; and Mr. Yarrell mentions two instances in which females of this species have assumed, to a considerable extent, the appearance and plumage of the Mallard, even to the curling feathers of the tail. On the other hand, the male plumage, according to Mr. Waterton, undergoes a singular alteration. About the end of May the breast and back of the Drake begin to change colour; in a few days the curled feathers of the tail drop out, and grey feathers begin to appear in the lovely green plumage round the eyes; and, by the 23rd of June, scarcely one green feather remains. By the 6th of July all the green feathers have disappeared, and the male has assumed the female garb, but darker in colour. In August this new plumage begins to drop off, and by the middle of October the Drake again reappears in all the rich magnificence of its former dress.

The Wild Duck (Fig. 86) forms the original stock from which our Domestic Ducks have sprung. Their favourite resorts are to be found in those hyperborean regions whose rigorous climate renders it uninhabitable by man. The rivers of Lapland, Greenland, and Siberia are sometimes literally covered with them; and, in the month of May, their nests are there found in quantities which the imagination can scarcely picture. At the first approach of frost their earliest harbingers begin to appear among us, and about the middle of October these travelling bands arrive in increasing numbers.

Wild Ducks have a powerful, sustained, and rapid flight. With one stroke of the wing they raise themselves either from the land or water, and mount perpendicularly above the summits of the loftiest trees, when they take a more horizontal course, maintaining themselves at a great height, and making long journeys without rest. Triangular columns of them may sometimes be seen directing their unerring course towards their destination, the rustling of their wings being heard at considerable distances. The leading bird, which directs the course of the band, and which is thus exposed to the first resistance of the wind, from being foremost to cleave the air, soon becomes fatigued, when it falls back into the second rank, its place in the van being immediately taken by another (Fig. 87).

Wild Ducks are extremely suspicious in their nature. When they want to settle down on any spot, or to go from one pool to another, they sweep round in concentric curves, descending and ascending again and again, until they have made a complete survey of their intended halting-place.

The margins of fresh-water lakes, pools, and marshes are the principal localities frequented by the Wild Duck, so long as the frosts of winter do not prevent their obtaining the water-insects and aquatic weeds on which they feed. But when the frost has congealed the stagnant waters, they take themselves off into more temperate climates, invariably following the course of the rivers and running streams. When they return northward after the great thaw--that is, about the end of February--they keep in pairs, and disperse themselves in search of breeding-places among the rushes, reeds, and sedge-grasses, constructing a bulky nest of weeds, which is simply placed on the ground, and generally near to water.

Much elegance is not to be looked for in the nest of the Wild Duck. A favourite situation is a thickly-growing tuft of sedge, and they content themselves with plucking off a few of the blades, the ends of which they bend down so as to form a foundation, the surface being covered with a soft layer of down. Their nests are occasionally found at some distance from the water, amidst heath or broom, or even in the fork of a tree, the female having been known to take possession of a Magpie's or Crow's nest which had been abandoned.

The Duck lays from five to ten eggs, and sometimes more; their colour varies, but is generally a dull greenish white. The female sits alone, and only leaves the nest to seek her food. When leaving her nest, she covers it up carefully with any rubbish at hand; on her return, the cunning creature alights a considerable distance from it, and glides through the grass, looking in every direction to see that she is not watched; if discovered, she will even feign lameness to induce pursuit, so that she may draw off intruders.

Incubation lasts about a month. The young ones are then hatched, all generally bursting the egg on the same day. They are covered with a close yellow down, and are quite alert when they leave the shell; and their mother soon leads them down to the water, encouraging them by her example to enter it. They do not return to the nest. At night their mother covers them under her wings, and at first feeds them with the small flies that come within her reach.

The ducklings, although they soon learn to swim, are unable to fly till after the expiration of three months; after that lapse of time wing-feathers are developed sufficiently to enable them to take flight. But they are always alert and active on the water, diving and remaining under it for many minutes with nothing but the bill above the surface. When danger approaches, the mother utters a peculiar cry, and the young ones immediately conceal themselves. In a ditch full of water, Mr. McGillivray once came upon a whole brood of half-grown ducklings which disappeared in a moment; and although he searched everywhere for them, he did not succeed in finding a single one. When the Duck perceives the great Black-backed Gull, the ruthless enemy of her race, she beats the water with her wings as if to attract the attention of the aggressor. On his approach she darts at him with so much vigour that she compels him to retire, shamefully beaten.

Audubon relates a remarkable instance of maternal affection in this bird. The American naturalist had found in the woods a female of this species at the head of her young brood. As he approached, he noticed that her feathers became erect, and that she hissed with a threatening gesture, after the manner of Geese. In the meantime, the ducklings made off in all directions. His Dog, which was perfectly trained, brought the little creatures to him, one by one, without doing them the least injury. But in all his proceedings he was watched by the mother, who kept passing and repassing in front of him, as if to distract his attention. When the ducklings were all safe in the game-bag, in which they struggled and cried out, the mother came with a sad and troubled air, and placed herself close to the sportsman, as if unable to suppress her despair. Audubon, seeing her grovelling almost under his feet, was filled with pity, and restored her little family before leaving the spot. "When I turned round to watch her," adds the naturalist, "I really fancied I could detect an expression of gratitude in her eyes; and I experienced at that moment one of the most vivid sensations of pleasure I have ever enjoyed."

Whilst the mother is devoting herself to the education of her brood, the father pays but little attention to his progeny. Jaded and thin, he lives a solitary and quiescent life, more sad and wild than ever. He has, in fact, to submit to a most sudden course of moulting. The female also loses her plumage after the young ones are hatched. They neither of them regain their more brilliant dress until the end of autumn.

There are numerous instances proving that Wild Ducks are susceptible of attachment to man, and it is certain that they can be easily tamed. They also breed readily with the Domestic Duck; and the crossed birds thus produced are said to have an excellent flavour, and to fatten with facility. Mr. St. John, in his "Wild Sports in the Highlands," remarks that he has frequently caught and brought home young Wild Ducks. "If confined in a yard with tame birds for a week or two, they strike up a companionship which keeps them from wandering when set at liberty. Some years ago I brought home three, two of which turned out to be Drakes. I sent away my tame Ducks, and the next season I had a large family of half-bred and wholly Wild Ducks, as the tame and wild bred together quite freely. The Wild Ducks which have been caught turned out the tamest of all,--throwing off all shyness, they follow their feeder, and will eat corn out of the hand of any one they know; while the half-bred birds are inclined to take wing and fly away for the purpose of making their nests at a distance."

The flesh of the Wild Duck is much esteemed. But they are birds which are very difficult to approach, in consequence of their suspicious nature; and in order to get even a long shot at them, it is necessary to have recourse to stratagem. Even when successful in your aim, the shot often fails to penetrate, owing to the thick layers of their downy covering. Various artifices, therefore, are employed to lure them, all of which require some cleverness. They are shot from a watching-place, being seduced to its neighbourhood by employing Domestic Ducks which act as decoys (Fig. 88). They are also shot from huts on the edge of the water. Sometimes they are attracted by means of lights, or by imitating their call. Many are taken in nets, in decoy-weirs, and in snares; they are sometimes even taken by means of baited fish-hooks, and many other strange contrivances.

The ordinary open Duck-shooting, as represented in Fig. 89, is far from being so productive as some of the former methods, but it is much more attractive. No sport is more uncertain, but occasionally none is more fruitful, or more full of unexpected successes.

Duck-shooting from a hut, as represented in Fig. 90, is the method most practised. The sportsmen are hidden in a small hut placed on the edge of some lake or river, or it may be erected in the middle of the water on a heap of stones. Here they lie in wait for the birds in order to get a close shot at them. They generally use fowling-pieces of great length and large calibre, called Duck-guns. Shooting from Duck punts is also practised all round the coast, and on the larger lakes, ponds, and estuaries.

On the Saône, the gunners, accompanied by a boatman, take their places in a long, light, narrow, pointed boat, or punt, called a _fourquette_. The two men, lying down in the bottom of the boat, are hidden by faggots placed in front of them, the muzzle of the duck-gun protruding through the faggots. Thus floating down the river among the Ducks, they get an opportunity of shooting them without being perceived. Sportsmen in France sometimes employ a very odd artifice to baffle the suspicious instinct of these birds: a man disguises himself as a cow by means of an outline of the animal roughly made of common cardboard. Under favour of this disguise he gets near the Wild Ducks without exciting their fears, if only aware how to make good use of his device; that is, if he describes gentle and graceful curves, so as to advance gradually without alarming the timid Palmipedes. But this sport, though productive enough when skilfully managed, is not unattended with danger. A sportsman, who had dressed himself up in this disguise, happened inadvertently to find his way among a herd of cattle, which, detecting the imposture, immediately ran at him and chased him about the meadow. He thought himself fortunate in escaping with the loss of his disguise, which he abandoned to the fury of his horned assailants.

Large numbers of Ducks are taken by means of nets and various snares, which want of space prevents us from here enumerating.

The Domestic Duck, _Anas domestica_, is a descendant of the Wild Duck, or, as some think, of the Shoveller. The first tame Duck, the ancestor of a family since so prodigiously multiplied, probably proceeded from an egg which had been taken from some reedy marsh, and hatched under a Hen.

The Duck, however, has been reduced to a state of domesticity from a very remote period, and has been of incalculable utility to mankind, filling in our poultry-yards no unworthy place. Ducks' eggs are a wholesome and agreeable article of food, and the flesh of the bird itself is most savoury. Epicures highly prized, and rightly so, the _pâtés de foie de canard_ of Toulouse, Strasbourg, Nérac, and Amiens (we arrange them here in their order of merit, not according to Baron Brisse's _dictum_, but following our own poor gastronomic capabilities). Their feathers, although not so valuable as those of the Goose, are articles of considerable importance in commerce.

Ducks produce large profits to those who rear them. They are by no means choice in their food. Nothing comes amiss to their palate; the corn scattered about the yard which is disdained by other fowls, and the meanest remnants of the leavings of the table and kitchen, they do not reject. All that they require as an essential is to have a little water within reach in which they can paddle at will.

Ducks' eggs are often put under a Hen to be hatched. When seeking her food, the Hen sometimes leads her little flock to the edge of water, and gives them a glimpse of its dangers. But the ducklings, impelled by instinct, rush into the element they are most partial to. The poor mother, anxious for the fate of the young giddy-pates, which she loves as her own offspring, utters cries of terror. She would resolutely throw herself into the stream, and perhaps get drowned, were she not soothed by seeing them swimming about, happy and active. This shows her that in them she cannot recognise her own flesh and blood.

There are several favourite varieties of the Domestic Duck, but those of Normandy and Picardy, in France, and the Aylesbury Ducks in England, are the most profitable. Every nation rears Ducks; but the Chinese undeniably most excel in this art. For hatching them the Celestials have recourse to artificial heat. They also possess some superb varieties, which have been recently imported into Europe, and are at the present time the glory of our ornamental waters. Magnificent pairs of Chinese Ducks, of which the Mandarin is the most beautiful, may be admired in the Jardin d'Acclimatation at Paris, at the Zoological Gardens of the Regent's Park, and also in the artificial waters in the parks and gardens of our principal cities.

The Common Wild Duck, which we have described, is the type of the order of Ducks; but there are about seventy other species. The most remarkable are the Widgeon, the Poachard, the Shoveller, the Shieldrake, the Eider Duck, the Teal, the Black Diver, and the Merganser.

THE GOLDEN-EYED GARROT.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Golden-eyed Garrot: McGillivray, Yarrell, Montagu, Jenyns, Selby. Golden-eyed Duck, Gewdy Duck, Pied Widgeon, Whistler.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas clangula_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Anas glaucion_: Bonaparte, Linn., Young, Yarrell, Latham. _Clangula vulgaris_: Selby. _Clangula chrysophthalmus_: Jenyns.

The Golden-eyed Garrot, _Anas clangula_, is sometimes called the Golden-eyed Duck, on account of the brightness of the iris of its eye. In some provinces it has received the nickname of the Harlequin Duck, because its plumage, at a little distance off, looks as if it was composed of black and white feathers only. This variegated appearance, which occurs only in the males, makes a fine show on the dark pools and lakes of the north Highlands and Hebrides, where the scenery in winter is excessively dismal. When undisturbed, they float lightly on the surface; but if alarmed, they are said to sink themselves deeper in the water, diving rapidly, and swimming with great velocity. They fly also swiftly in a direct manner, their small, stiff, and sharp-pointed wings producing a whistling sound, which is heard in calm weather at a considerable distance.[24] They rise easily from the water, striking it with their feet and wings for several yards; but under alarm, or when there is a breeze rippling the surface, they can ascend at once. During winter they are met with in all parts of the country, from Shetland and Orkney on the one side, and from the Lewis Islands on the other, to the southern extremity of England. In Ireland, also, they are constant winter visitors; but they do not seem to breed with us, betaking themselves to the Arctic regions in spring, and returning in October. They are essentially lake Ducks; but they are also found on the open coasts and estuaries. Their flesh is dark-coloured and unsavoury, it requiring all the art of the cook to conceal its natural fishy flavour.

[24] From the noise made by their wings they are in some localities
called Whistlers.

They are generally plentiful in our markets, where the young and females go under the comprehensive name of Widgeons.

The Golden-eyed Garrot flies low and rapidly. In the month of November it reaches France in small flocks, to remain till the spring. Then it returns to its native country--Sweden, Norway, or Lapland. As it is not a shy bird, the sportsmen on the sea-coasts of Picardy, Normandy, and the Landes kill large quantities of them.

THE POACHARD.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Red-headed Poachard: McGillivray. Poachard Montagu. Common Poachard: Jenyns.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas ferina_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Aythya ferina_: Bonaparte, McGillivray. _Fuligula ferina_: Selby, Jenyns.

FRENCH SYNONYM.--_Canard melouin_: Temminck.

The Poachard nearly resembles the American Canvas-back Duck, but is unlike any British species in form. Its body (of the male) is large, full, depressed, and elliptical in form; its neck long and thick; the head large, oblong, compressed, and rounded above. The plumage is dense, soft, and glossy. The feathers on the fore part of the head are small and stiff; on the remainder of the head and neck soft, silky, and blended. The wings are short, curved, narrow, and pointed. The bill black to a little beyond the nostrils, the intermediate space light greyish blue. The head, and half the neck all round, are of a fine brownish-orange tint.

The Poachard (Fig. 91) is, next to that of the Common Wild Duck, the variety which is most plentiful on our waters. It is almost as large as the latter; it makes its nest in the rushes round pools or lakes, and feeds upon the roots of grasses and aquatic plants, also on worms, mollusks, and small fish. They are plentiful in the eastern counties south of the Humber, and in the fen counties; and it occurs in America, where, as Dr. Richardson states, it breeds in all parts of the fur countries, from the fiftieth parallel to their most northerly limits. Audubon found it abundant in winter about New Orleans, in East Florida, and in Chesapeake Bay. "Although they dive much and to a great depth in our bays and estuaries, yet, when in the shallow ponds of the interior, they prefer dabbling in the mud along the shores, much in the manner of the Mallard."

This bird reaches France in little flocks of twenty to forty in the month of October. It can easily be caught in nets.

THE SHOVELLER.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Blue-winged Shoveller: McGillivray. Common Shoveller: Selby, Jenyns. Shoveller: Montagu.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas clypeata_: Linn., Latham, Jenyns, Temminck. _Rhynchaspis_: Bonaparte, McGillivray.

FRENCH SYNONYMS.--_Canard Souchet_: Temminck. _Rouge de Rivière_: Figuier.

The Shoveller (Fig. 92) is very common on the Seine and the Marne, where it is called _Rouge de Rivière_. It is smaller than the Common Wild Duck, and has a very long bill, with the upper mandible of a semi-cylindrical shape, dilated at its extremity, somewhat in the form of a small spoon. This bird is really charming in the brilliancy of its plumage. Its head and neck are of a bright green, and its wings are variegated with streaks of a brilliant pale blue, green, white, and black. It is called "red" because its plumage underneath is of a brownish-red hue. In the month of February it abandons the icy regions of the north, to visit the more southern lakes and rivers of France and Germany. With us it is only a straggler, although in former days, when our system of drainage was less perfect, it was a more frequent visitor. In France considerable numbers of the Shovellers remain and breed. It dwells in marshes, on lakes and large rivers, being seldom found near the sea-coast; feeding occasionally on vegetable substances, but chiefly on fresh-water mollusks, worms, and insects, for grubbing up which, and separating them from the sand and mud, its bill is evidently well adapted.

The Shoveller is met with in various parts of Europe, as well as in Asia, Africa, and America, where it is found widely dispersed. The nest is constructed on the borders of rushy lakes, and they lay from eight to twelve eggs. When first hatched, the young ones are excessively ugly, their beaks being almost as large as their bodies. The flesh of the Shoveller is tender and delicate, and preserves its pink colour even after it is cooked.

THE SHIELDRAKE.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Burrow Shielduck: McGillivray. Shieldrake: Montagu, Selby, Jenyns. Popular names: Skeldrake, Skelgoose, Skieling Goose, Burrow Duck, St. George's Duck, Stockannet.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas tadorna_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Tadorna vulpanser_: Selby, Bonaparte, McGillivray.

FRENCH SYNONYM.--_Canard Tadorne._

This very beautiful bird is a permanent resident in the British Islands, although it is only met sparingly along our coasts. It resorts in spring and summer to the sandy bays on the west coast of England and Scotland, from the Land's End to the Shetland Islands. In autumn and winter it is found on the eastern coast both of Scotland and England, where many individuals remain to breed. It is generally found in the neighbourhood of sandy, marshy land and moist meadows near the sea. It walks with a quickish step, and has a swift flight, something like the Mallard, and with a more rapid beat of the wings than the Goose.

The Shieldrake (Fig. 93) is the most remarkable of all the Duck tribe, not only from its size, but from its beauty, and the elegant variations of its plumage. It is larger and stands higher on its legs than the Common Wild Duck. The plumage is full, soft, and blended; the feathers of the head and upper neck are small and silky. The colours are very brilliant, being of a glossy blackish green on the head and neck, with purplish reflections in some lights; a broad band or ring of white is found on the neck, and lower another of orange-red encircles the fore part of the body. The rest of the under parts are white, with a band of glossy black on the breast and belly; the back white, variegated with black, white, russet, and green. The Shieldrake abounds on the coasts of the Baltic and North Sea; it is also found in America, and on the southern coasts of France, as well as on the edge of the Northern Ocean. The nest is usually placed in some indentation in the sand, the female frequently choosing a Rabbit's hole, which is often situated in sand-banks. The poor Rabbit, thus turned out of its burrow, never ventures to return to it again.

THE EIDER DUCK.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Eider Duck: Montagu. Common Eider: Selby. White-backed Eider: McGillivray. Popular names: St. Cuthbert's Duck, Dunter Goose.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas mollissima_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Somateria mollissima_: Jenyns, Bonaparte, McGillivray, Selby.

The Eider Duck, though remarkable for beauty of plumage, is nevertheless a very clumsy bird. In form it is bulky, depressed, and elliptical, with large, oblong, and compressed head. The plumage is dense and fine; the head-feathers are short, tufted, and rounded, and, blending with the terminal filaments, disunited; the wings diminutive, concave, narrow, and pointed, the tips of which extend to the base of the tail, which is short, round, and slightly decurvated.

The Eider Duck is the northern bird which supplies the soft, light, and warm material which is so well known under the name of "eider-down." Its plumage is whitish, but the upper part of the head, its belly, and its tail are black; the side of the head, the throat, and the neck are white, but the hair-like feathers on the back part of the cheeks and nape are of a delicate pale green; the lower part of the neck is cream-coloured. The black parts from their glossiness are conspicuous, while the white look soiled; the head and back are also shaded with a green tint.

The Eider Duck is found in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, occurring in diminished numbers in the latter. In the Outer Hebrides it has many breeding-places, and some nests occur on the Bass Rock, and on the Farn Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, where the eggs have been found in the month of June. The nest is made in some hollow in the turf, and is composed of sea-weed and dried grass, mixed with such marine plants as _Plantago maritima_ and _Coronopsis_. The eggs, which vary in number, are of a longish oval shape, smooth and glossy, and of a pale greenish grey. When they have been laid, the female is said to pluck the down from her breast and cover them over with it. This down, when shaken out, will occupy a space of nine or ten inches. This peculiar quality of the down, however, caused by its elastic character, belongs to all the Anatidæ, and probably not less so to the Anserinæ.

The principal home of the Eider Duck is on the bleak and frozen sea-coasts of Northern Europe, and its food, which is obtained by diving, is the bivalve mollusca; also crustacea, fishes, and fish-spawn, together with aquatic worms. It makes its nest on rocks washed by the sea. Sometimes two female birds lay in the same nest, which then contains from nine to ten eggs, for each of them lays from four to six. The nest is roughly built with sea-weed, but it is lined inside with a thick layer of the bird's own down. "The Eider Ducks," as we learn from Willoughby, "build themselves nests on the rocks, and lay good store of very savoury and well-tasted eggs; for the getting of which the neighbouring people let themselves down by ropes dangerously enough, and with the same labour gather the feathers, or eider-dun, our people call them, which are very soft and fit to stuff beds and quilts; for in a small quantity they dilate themselves much, being very springy, and warm the body above any others. These birds are wont at set times to moult their feathers, enriching the fowlers with this desirable merchandise." "When its young are hatched," adds the English naturalist, "it takes them out to sea, and never looks at land till next breeding-time, nor is seen anywhere about our coasts."

There seems to be some considerable difference between the down taken from the dead bird and that which the female plucks from her breast. The lightness and elasticity of the latter are such that two or three pounds of it squeezed into a ball which may be held in the hand will expand so as to fill a quilt large enough to cover a bed. When the female prepares her nest, she lines it as above mentioned; when she has laid her four or six eggs, which are about three inches in length and two in breadth, she strips herself a second time; should this down be abstracted, as it generally is, and she is unable to supply more, the male submits himself to the same plucking process, his contribution being known by its paler colour.

The haunts of a bird yielding so valuable an article are carefully watched, and proprietors do everything in their power to attract them to their land; and in Scotland and Norway the districts resorted to by the Eider Ducks are strictly preserved, everything likely to disturb them being carefully guarded against. Pennant thus records a visit he paid to one of their breeding-places in the Farn Islands on the 15th of July, 1769:--"I found the Ducks sitting," he writes, "and I took some of the nests, the base of which was formed of sea-plants and covered with the down. After separating it carefully from the plants it weighed only three-quarters of an ounce, yet was so elastic that it filled a greater space than the crown of the largest hat. These birds are not numerous on the isles, and it was observed that the Drakes kept on the side most remote from the sitting-places. The Ducks continue on the nest till you come almost to them, and when they rise, they are very slow fliers. The eggs are of a pale olive colour, large, glossy, and smooth; they are from three to four, warmly bedded in down." Sir George Mackenzie, in his "Travels in Iceland," says that "the boat in its approach to Vidöe passed multitudes of Eider Ducks, which hardly moved out of the way; and between the landing-place and the governor's house it required some caution to avoid treading on the nests, while the Drakes were walking about even more familiar than common Ducks. The Ducks were sitting on their nests all round the house, on the garden wall, on the roof, in the inside of the house, and on the chapel."

The locality where the Eiders make their nests is always difficult of access. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Iceland, Lapland, and the coasts of the North Sea invariably secure them. The harvest which is derived from these birds is the source of a considerable revenue, eider-down being, in fact, a very large article of commerce. The rocks where the Eider Ducks lay their eggs are private property, and are handed down in families just as if they were the most valuable possessions.

THE COMMON TEAL.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Common Teal: Montagu, Selby. Green-winged Teal.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas crecca_: Linn., Latham, Flemming, Temminck, Jenyns. _Querquedula crecca_: Bonaparte, Selby, McGillivray.

FRENCH SYNONYM.--_Canard Sarcelle._

This is the smallest of the Duck kind known in the British Isles. It is a remarkably beautiful bird, and in colouring as well as in form closely resembles the Mallard, but is much smaller. It frequents marshy places and the margins of lakes and rivers, seldom betaking itself to estuaries or the sea-coast until frost sets in. It walks with ease, swims with great dexterity, flies rapidly, and is in all respects remarkable for its activity. It rises from the water or the land at once, and shoots away with great rapidity, so that the marksman who would bring it down must be very expert with his gun. It breeds in the long reedy grasses on the margin of lakes, or on upland moors and marshes. Its nest is a mass of decayed vegetable matter lined with down and feathers, in which it lays ten or twelve eggs, about an inch and three-quarters in length and an inch and a quarter in breadth. North of the Tay they are found occasionally all the year round, returning, according to Mr. St. John, year after year to breed, if left undisturbed in the process of incubation.

"If we compare," says Mr. McGillivray, "the Common Teal (_Anas crecca_, Linn.), with the Garganey (_Anas circia_), the Gadwall (_Anas strepira_), and the Pintail Duck (_Anas acuta_), we find slight differences in the form of the bill, in the elongated lamella of the upper mandible, in the length of the neck and tail; but they are all so intimately connected that, unless each species can be converted into a genus, there can be no reason for separating them." He classes them accordingly under the general name of Teal.

This bird makes its appearance in France in spring and autumn. It breeds in all the temperate climates of Europe, and pushes on towards the south as the winter advances.

Of the Teals there seem to be three, probably four, species, which in our climate may be divided into three--namely, the Common Teal, _Anas crecca_; the Summer Teal, _Anas circia_; and the Little Teal, or Black Diver, _Anas nigra_.

According to Columella, in his work "De Re Rustica," the Romans succeeded in domesticating the Teal; but the bird has reverted to an entirely wild state, which is much to be regretted, for it would have formed a valuable addition to the poultry-yard, the flesh of the Teal being held in great estimation.

The group of Ducks usually denominated Teal, Mr. Swainson has formed into the sub-genus _Boschas_, in which he also includes the Mallard, or Wild Duck. "As this is the most numerous group," says this writer, "so it exhibits a greater diversity of form among the species. They are all, however, characterised by a bill longer than the head, whose breadth is equal throughout; sometimes indeed a little dilated, but never contracted at the tip, while the laminæ of the upper mandible are entirely concealed by the margin of the bill." "The beautiful _Anas formosa_, which is essentially a Teal, differs," says a writer in the "Penny Cyclopædia," "in the greater length of the tail, thus connecting it more closely with the Pintail and other long-tailed species; while the bill, which is depressed in form in the Mallard as well as in the Common Duck, is convex, with projecting laminæ, in the Teal. Such is the case with the Blue-winged Teal of North America, in which the laminæ of the upper bill project nearly as much as in the Gadwall, while the upper mandible exhibits that sinuosity at the base which is seen in no other Duck except the Shoveller."

Mr. Selby says of the Common Teal: "I am inclined to think that our indigenous breeds seldom quit the immediate neighbourhood of the places in which they are bred, as I have repeatedly observed them to haunt the same district from the time of their being hatched till they separated and paired on the approach of the following spring. The Teal breeds in the long rushy herbage about the edges of lakes, or on the boggy parts of upland moors." Very few of them are found, according to Mr. McGillivray, in the south of Scotland during the summer months. In winter, one of his correspondents informs him, it unites in large flocks, the Drakes having then a whistle like the Plover; but it has not been heard to use this call during the breeding season. The boldness of the female in defence of her young is very affecting. Mr. St. John describes an instance which occurred in Ross-shire. He was riding along when an old Teal, with eight newly-hatched young ones, crossed the road. The youngsters could not climb the bank, and all squatted flat down while he passed. He dismounted, and carried all the young ones a little distance down the road to a ditch, the old bird fluttering about all the time, and frequently coming within reach of his whip. The part of the road where he found them passed through a thick fir-wood covered with rank heather, and it was a great puzzle to him how such little things, scarcely bigger than a mouse, could have struggled through it. Next day he saw them all enjoying themselves in a pond a little distance off, where a brood of Teal appeared every year.

Teal are less timid than the Wild Duck, and the sportsman, therefore, has not the same difficulty in getting within shot of them. They breed in great numbers in some of the Highland lochs, and Mr. St. John says that in August he has seen perfect clouds of them rise from some calm, glassy lake at the report of a gun.

THE VELVET DUCK.

ENGLISH SYNONYMS.--Velvet Duck: Montagu. Velvet Scoter: Selby, Jenyns, McGillivray. Black Duck, White-winged Black Duck, Black Diver, Double Scoter.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas fusca_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Oidemia fusca_: Selby, Jenyns, Bonaparte, McGillivray. _Anas nigra_: French writers.

FRENCH SYNONYM.--_Canard Macreuse_: Temminck.

The Scoters (_Oidemia_, Flemming) have the bill broad, with dilated margins, and coarse lamelliform teeth; a swelling above the nostrils, dividing them into two equal parts, both large and elevated.

The Velvet Duck is the largest of the Scoters, and is distinguishable by the white band upon its wing, much-depressed body, thick neck, and large, oblong, and compressed head. They make their appearance in our bays and estuaries towards the end of autumn, and depart about the middle of April. In the evening they fly out to sea in flocks of fifteen or twenty when the weather is favourable, returning to the shore in the morning. They fly low, but with considerable speed, moving their wings quickly; and on arriving at a suitable place, they relax a little and alight on their hinder end, the body being kept oblique. On settling, they commence forthwith to feed.

THE BLACK SCOTER.

ENGLISH SYNONYM.--Black Scoter: Selby, Jenyns, McGillivray.

LATIN SYNONYMS.--_Anas nigra_: Linn., Latham, Temminck. _Oidemia nigra_: Flemming, Selby, Jenyns, Bonaparte, McGillivray.

The Black Scoter arrives on our shores about the middle of autumn in considerable flocks, and is seen on all our western coast during winter, but is still more abundant on the French coast. It closely resembles the American Scoter, of which it is probably a variety.

The Black Scoter (_Oidemia nigra_) is almost as large as the Common Wild Duck, but is shorter and more thickly made. Its plumage is entirely black; when young it is greyish.

The Black Scoter passes its life on the surface of the water, and never ventures on the land except when driven by stress of weather, or for the purpose of making its nest in the marshes. It flutters rather than flies over the surface of the sea, and makes no use of its wings, except to escape some danger, or to transport itself from one point to another with more rapidity. Its legs, in flying, hang down, and constantly graze the surface of the water; it always appears as if it regretted to leave its favourite element.

When on land, these birds walk slowly and ungracefully; but in the water they are never wearied. Like the Petrel, they have the singular faculty of being able to run about on the waves. They are natives of both the Old and New World. About the month of October, driven by the north and north-west winds, they come down from the northerly countries of Europe, and visit our Atlantic coasts and the Mediterranean.

The Black Scoter delights in the salt-water pools adjacent to the sea, and the sheltered creeks on the coast, in which they find a refuge against storms. In these places they become the objects of the terribly destructive sport of which we are about to speak.

Two or three times during the winter, large placards exhibited in certain towns of the department of Hérault--at Montpellier, Cette, Agde, &c.--announce that large flocks of these birds (called _foulques_ in the country) having settled down on some adjacent lake, a day's sport will be had with them on a given date. The day is turned into a real fête by the sportsmen, and an extraordinary concourse of people are brought together. Every one starts in the middle of the night, some in carriages, some in carts, and the most humble among them on donkeys or on foot. At daybreak they reach the margin of the lake. When arrived there, they embark in boats, each provided with a rower. At a given signal the whole flotilla puts off from the shore, and advances slowly towards that part of the lake in which the Ducks are to be found.

These unusual preparations are a cause of astonishment to the birds, which utter gentle cries of terror as they crowd together. The boats, however, hem them in on all sides, gradually contracting their circle so as to shut the birds up in an enclosed space. The Black Scoters, seeing the enemy advancing upon them, in their anxiety take to diving and plunging about. But, before long, being closely pressed, they spread their wings and take flight over the heads of their enemies. This is the signal for the commencement of the first volley. There is now no cessation in the resounding reports of the guns; for usually no less than five hundred sportsmen meet on the surface of a not very extensive lake, such as those of Mauguio or Palavas. The massacre lasts for some hours; in fact, these unfortunate birds, incapable of flying very far, are pursued from place to place by the pitiless boats, which are soon, like the bark of the venerable Charon, laden with the dead. When no birds remain on the lake, the boats return to the shore, rowing along the banks to hunt out the wounded. Three thousand of these birds will sometimes fall before the murderous guns in the space of a few hours. Almost as a matter of course, quarrels often arise among the sportsmen. The cause of dispute may be some bird which has been shot at from several boats at the same moment. These disturbances, which usually begin with shouts and abuse, from the warmth of the southern blood sometimes terminate fatally. In this sport tumult reaches its utmost pitch, and it is as productive of danger as of pleasure. Sometimes a boat capsizes, owing to the excessive eagerness of the rowers; sometimes a sportsman is wounded by an awkward neighbour, or two or three men fall into the water in trying to reach their prey. Such are the exciting scenes that I have often witnessed in my youth; they were the supreme delight of the boys of Clapas (Montpellier). The same sport is practised at Hyères, in the Var, and on the lake of Berre, near Marseilles.

On the coasts of Picardy, where the Black Scoter abounds during winter, very destructive means are used for their capture. Nets are stretched horizontally in the water, above the banks of shell-fish which the sea has left uncovered at its reflux, and on which these birds feed. When they dive to seize their prey they become entangled in the meshes of the net, from which they cannot escape.

The Black Scoter is also the object of individual sport when it does not arrive in these immense flocks. It is then shot from a boat like other water-fowl.

The Black Scoter makes but a poor figure on aristocratic tables. Its flesh, which is by no means tender, retains a very decided marshy flavour. In former times it was much sought after, but not exactly for its culinary qualities. The reason this bird was shown such preference was because people were permitted to eat it in Lent in place of fish.

The singular notions on which the Church of Rome founded this toleration--a toleration, however, which still exists in full force even at the present day--is as follows. The councils of the twelfth century permitted both the clergy and laity to eat Black Scoters during Lent because it was a generally-accepted idea, founded on the writings of Aristotle, that these birds were not produced from an egg, but had a vegetable origin. The learned of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, seeing large flocks of these birds suddenly appear, while nothing was known whence they came, indulged in all kinds of conjectures to explain this mysterious fact. They attributed to them origins which were marvellous; one conjecturing that the feathery appearance in the ciliated tentacles of certain mollusks which inhabit the barnacle shell changed into Black Scoters; others imagined that these birds proceeded from the wood of rotten fir-trees which had been long floating about in the sea, or even from the fungi and marine mosses which cling to the _débris_ of wrecked ships; others, again, went so far as to assert that the north of Scotland, and especially the Orkney Isles, produced a tree the fruit of which, falling into the sea, developed into the bird which was called _Anser arboreus_, in order to commemorate its origin: this bird they imagined was the Black Scoter.

The naturalists who gave expression to these transcendental views might certainly boast that they had Aristotle on their side; for this distinguished philosopher believed in the spontaneous generation of various kinds of animals. He asserted, for instance, that rats sprung from decayed vegetables, and that bees proceeded from the carcass of an ox. Who, for instance, is unacquainted with the fine episode of the fourth book of Virgil's Georgics, where this poetic fiction is related in beautiful verse?

As a matter of fact, however, Pope Innocent III., better instructed than Aristotle in this department of natural history, passed sentence on all these tales by forbidding its use during Lent; but no one, either in the monasteries, the castles, or the taverns, has ever looked at this interdict of the sovereign pontiff in a serious point of view.

This controverted question, however, met with an unexpected solution. Gerard Veer, a Dutch navigator, in one of his voyages to the north of Europe, found some eggs of the Velvet Duck. Being ignorant of their nature, he brought them home, put them under a hen, and, when they were hatched, the produce exactly resembled the birds which were asserted by the ancients to proceed from the decay of vegetable matter. Gerard Veer made the announcement that these birds bred in Greenland, thus affording a complete explanation of the absence of their eggs in southern countries.

This discovery of the Dutch navigator met with no favourable reception. The custom of eating the Velvet Duck in Lent had been long established; the Church allowed it, and every one was satisfied. Gerard Veer was sent back to his galliot, and all kinds of reasons were found for satisfying the consciences and stomachs of the faithful, which had been justly alarmed.

There was, however, no deficiency in the arguments brought forward. It was asserted that the feathers of the Velvet Duck were of quite a different nature from those of other birds; that their blood was _cold_, and that it did not coagulate when shed; that their fat, like that of fishes, had the property of never hardening. The analogy between the Velvet Duck and the fishes being thus clearly established, the permission of the councils remained in full force.