SEA-nUCKS. 399 



subject of conversation. A servant was sent, whojiafter some trouble, recovered 

 the lost drake by paying handsomely for him, and he was brought back to the 

 aviary in one of the usual cane cages. As soon as the bird recognized the 

 aviary, he expressed his joy by quacking vehemently and flapping his wings. 

 An interval of three weeks had elapsed since he had been taken away by force ; 

 but when the poor forlorn duck heard the note of her lost husband, she quacked, 

 even to screaming, with ecstacy, and flew as far as she could in the aviary to 

 greet him. Being let out of the cage, the drake immediately joined his spouse : 

 the happy couple were again united. They quacked, crossed necks, bathed 

 together, and then are supposed to have related all their mutual hopes and 

 fears after their long separation; the female, in a most ungrateful manner, 

 informing her drake of the gallant proposals made to her by the widower during 

 his absence. It is merely a supposition that she did so, but at all events the 

 result was, that the recovered drake attacked the other the day subsequent to 

 his return, pecked his eyes out, and inflicted on him so many injuries as to 

 occasion his death in a few days."'— Dr. Bennett's " IVamiermo-s in Neiu 

 South Wales" vol. ii. page 64. 



To this sub-family likewise belong several British ducks, as, for 

 example, the Shieldrakes {Tadorna) and the Ruddy Shieldrakes 

 {Casa7'ka), remarkable for the singular construction of the wind- 

 pipe ; the Widgeon {Mareca) ; the Pintail {Dafila), so called on 

 account of its sharply pointed tail ; the Teal {Qucrqucdula), the 

 smallest and most valued, on account of the delicacy of its flesh 

 and the numbers in which it may be obtained ; the Garganey or 

 Summer Teal {Pterocyancd) is likewise found in England. The 

 curious Shoveller Duck {Spatula) may be at once recognized by 

 the form of its beak, which becomes so broad towards the tip as 

 to bear some resemblance to an inverted shovel. 



The type of the race, however, is — 



The Mallard or Wild Duck {Anas Boschas), the stock from which our 

 domestic duck owes its descent, and of which we have given a figure on the 

 opposite page. 



Sub-Family VI. 

 THE SEA-DUCKS. FULIGULIN^. 



General Characteristics. — Bill of various lengths, elevated at the base, and more 

 or less broad and depressed towards the tip, which is armed with a broad strong 

 nail ; the wings moderate and pointed ; the tail generally short and more or less 

 wedge-shaped ; the tarsi much shorter than the middle toe, and compressed ; the 

 toes long and united by a full web, the outer as long as the middle toe, the hind toe 

 short and deeply margined with a broad membranous web. 



These birds are inhabitants of the northern regions of Europe, 

 Asia, and America, migrating to the temperate districts on the 



