1 1A: ANSERIFORMES CHAP. 
ally-submerged position with erect tail when feeding is known 
toevery one. The various Swans have a whooping, trumpet-like, or 
hissing note; that of Geese is a harsh cackle,a gaggling sound, a 
clang ora “honk.” Ducks do not always quack, but have whistling 
or erating cries in addition. The usual food is vegetable, consisting 
of grass, Chara, Zostera, Ulva, and other plants; but Mergansers 
live chiefly on fish, and the bill of fare is varied by grain, pulse, 
berries, frogs, insect-larvae, worms, molluscs, and crustaceans. 
The nest is placed on the ground in thick herbage, or some- 
times almost in the water; holes in banks, hollow trees, or even 
branches at a slight elevation being chosen in certain cases: it 1s 
composed of heather, grass, moss, leaves, or rarely seaweed and 
twigs, and is lined with down, added gradually from the parent’s 
breast during incubation. The eggs, which vary in number from 
two (Biziura) to about a dozen, are smooth and hard-shelled, with 
a plain white, creamy, or green coloration, and are commonly covered 
when left. The young return for a time to the nest at night, and 
are carefully tended by the female, who is occasionally assisted 
by the male, especially in Swans’ It is not certaim how tree- 
building Ducks convey the nestlings to the water, though it has 
been. stated that they are carried in the bill; but it is no 
uncommon sight to see ducklings and cygnets climb upon their 
mother’s back and hide beneath her wings when danger threatens. 
The sexes in Swans and Geese are usually alike, though ex- 
ceptions occur, as in Chloephaga ; ir Ducks the male is generally 
much the finer bird, and has peculiar decorations, such as the 
elongated scapulars and rectrices of Harelda and Dajila; the 
sickle-shaped secondaries of Hunetta, Heniconetta, Arctonetta, and 
Somateria ; the stiff feathers on the face in the last three and 
Camptolaemus ; the curly tail of Anas boscas ; the crest, ruff, and 
“sail” of Aex galericulata ; or the crests of many Fuligulinae and 
Merginae. Some females have similar but less striking adornments. 
Among the many instances of fine coloration may be mentioned 
the Red-breasted and Emperor Geese, the Harlequin, Mandarin, 
Pink-headed and Shoveller Ducks, the Sheld-Drake (Fig. 54), 
and the Goosander ; while most Swans are pure white. The blue, 
green, or white speculum—or wing-bar—in various Ducks adds 
greatly to their appearance. The young are comparatively dull, 
the nestlings being thickly covered with yellowish down, furnished 
with barbs and barbules; the colour is, however, whitish or grey 
