ANATID.E. 489 



FAMILY I. 



AnatiDuE. The Ducks. 



Gen. Chaeac. — Bill general!}' depressed, broad, and always laminated on the 

 sides, the lamination being more prominent in some species than in others. 



The birds belonging to tliis family^ of wliicli tlie 

 Geese and Ducks are familiar examples^ are easily 

 distinguislied from all the rest of their order by the 

 peculiar structure of their bill^* which is broad, and 

 furnished with a covering of soft skin ; the edges of 

 both mandibles, moreover, exhibit a series of fine 

 tooth-like lamellae, or plates, which interlock when 

 the mandibles are nearly closed, so as to form a sort 

 of strainer. The feet are well developed, and the 

 anterior toes are united by an ample web. The 

 hinder toe is small, free, and raised more or less on 

 the back of the tarsus. The wings are tolerably 

 large and powerful, enabling the birds, notwith- 

 standing their bulky and rather heavy bodies, to fly 

 with considerable ease and rapidity j many of them, 

 indeed, are migratory, and perform long journeys 

 to and from their breeding-places, often at a con- 

 siderable elevation. They are generally gregarious, 

 and most of them frequent fresh water, although 

 they are often seen on the sea-shore in the winter 

 season. Their food consists chiefly of worms, aqua- 

 tic insects, and mollusca, which they obtain by 

 straining the mud and water through the fine la- 

 mellye of their bills. For this purpose they have 

 their tongues very largely developed, soft, and 

 fleshy; and when we consider the particular use 

 that the Duck makes of this organ, we shall per- 

 ceive that it is endowed with great and unusual 

 sensibility. The Duck, unlike other birds, discri- 

 minates its food, not by sight or by smell, but by 



* See "Animal Creation," page 471. 



