DUCKS AND DRAKES 397 



wing, one by one, and flies down to the ground with 

 them. As soon as her brood of ten or a dozen is thus 

 collected, she leads them oft' to the nearest water, and 

 the whole lot of Ducklings go in swimming, bol)bing 

 for food as if they were a year old instead of only a few 

 hours. Then mamma begins to drill them in danger-sig- 

 nalling, so that at the slightest hint from her they dive 

 and swim out of harm's way. 



" Sea Ducks do not always live on the ocean, as the 

 name would lead you to expect, but prefer large open 

 waters, either fresh like those of lakes, or salt, as in 

 bays and sounds. They eat both animal and vegetable 

 food, oftentimes diving deeply, and swimming far under 

 water to find it. Of course they, in common with all 

 other Ducks, must take a vast amount of mud and water 

 into their mouths with their food ; but instead of having 

 to swallow this, it drains off through the little grooves 

 on the inside edges of the bill, as a ship's deck is 

 drained of water by means of the scuppers. But that 

 I have explained to you already. Some Sea Ducks are 

 more plentiful than their river brethren ; and as they 

 spend both their days and nights offshore, they run 

 less danger of extermination. Most of them nest also 

 in the far North, in much the same fashion as River 

 Ducks do. 



" Two celebrated members of this group are the Red- 

 head and the Canvasl)ack, who are always welcome 

 guests at dinner, and are so much alike in the crisp 

 brown company- dress they wear on the table, with 

 plenty of stuffing and gravy, that ver}^ few persons can 

 tell them apart. Hut the most famous one of all is the 

 Eider Duck — the one which yields such an abundance 



