SCREAMERS, DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS 69 



domesticated breeds of ducks have been derived from the mallard. The commonest breed 

 differs but little, save in its great size, from the wild parent form, but the most esteemed are 

 those known as the Rduen and AVLKSBURV. The Penguix-DLXK is the most aberrant and the 

 ugliest of these breeds, having a peculiarly upright, awkward carriage, and very small wings. 



The S.\LT-\v,VTEK Ducks, or DlviNti-DUCKS, are for the most part of a heavier build 

 than the foregoing species, and many are of a sombre coloration. All the species are 

 e.xpert divers, and in consequence ha\e the legs, which are short, placed far backwards, and 

 this causes them to assume a more upright carriage when on land. The curious bony bulb 

 at the base of the windpipe found in the fresh-water species becomes in the salt-water forms 

 greatly enlarged, and its walls incompletely ossified, leaving large spaces to be filled by 

 peculiarly delicate sheets of membrane. The majority of the species in this section frequent 

 the open sea, but some occur inland. 



One of the most useful, and at the same time most ornamental, of this section is the 

 ElUER-DUCK, the male in full plumage being a truly magnificent bird : the female, as in the 

 majority of ducks, is clad in sober colours. In Iceland and Xorwa\' the eider-duck is strictly 

 protected, a fine being imposed for killing it during the breeding-season, or even for firing 

 a gun near its haunts. This 



Fhtlt t/ W. RtiiT] 



PARADISE-DUCKS 



nh species is a native of Neiv Zealand, where the photograph was taken. 

 right with the white head is the jcmale 



The bird on the 



most unusual care is, however, 

 by no means of a disin- 

 terested kind, but is e.xtended 

 solely that certain pri\ileged 

 persons ma\' rob the birds of 

 their eggs and the down on 

 which they rest, the latter 

 being the valuable eider- 

 down so much in demand for 

 bed-coverlets and other pur- 

 poses. " The eggs and down,' 

 says Professor Newton, " are 

 taken at intervals of a few 

 days b\- the owners of the 

 'eider-fold,' and the birds are 

 thus kept depositing both 

 during the whole season. . . . 

 Every duck is ultimately 

 allowed to hatch an egg or 

 two to keep up the stock." Mr. \V. C. Sheppard gives an interesting account of a visit to 

 an eider-colony on an island off the coast of Iceland. " On landing," he says, " the ducks 

 and their nests were everywhere. Great brown ducks sat upon their nests in masses, and 

 at every step started from under our feet. It was with difficulty we avoided treading on 

 some of the nests. On the coast of the opposite shore was a wall built of large stones . . . 

 about 3 feet high and of considerable thickness. At the bottom, on both sides of it, 

 alternate stones had been left out, so as to form a series of square apartments for the ducks 

 to nest in. Almost every apartment was occupied. . . . The house itself was a marvel. The 

 earthen walls that surrounded it, and the window embrasures, were occupied by ducks. On 

 the ground the house was fringed with ducks. On the turf slopes of its roof we could see 

 ducks, and a duck .sat on the door-scraper. The grassy banks had been cut into square 

 patches, about i8 inches having been removed, and each hollow had been filled with ducks. 

 A windmill was infested, and so were all the outhouses, mounds, rocks, and crevices. The 

 ducks were everywhere. Many were so tame that we could stroke them on their nests, and 

 the good lady told us that there was scarcely a duck on the island that would not allow 

 her to take its eggs without flight or fear. " 



