394 CITIZEN BIRD 



" What do Wild Ducks eat ? " asked Dodo, " seeds 

 or bugs or fish ? " 



" They eat all those things and many others too, ac- 

 cording to their various habits, which are as different 

 as the expression of their faces or the color of their 

 features. If you look at a case full of Wild Ducks in a 

 museum, you will find that no two have the same-shaped 

 head, or expression. Some look silly, some sly, while 

 others seem either proud or inquisitive." 



"How strange! " said Rap. "I never thought about 

 Ducks' faces, except that they all looked foolish, with 

 little pig- eyes and big beaks like shovels. And please, do 

 they chew their food with the teeth you said they had? " 



"Those are not true teeth, like ours, to chew with. 

 You know a good many very different things are called 

 teeth — those on a rake, for example, or a comb, or a 

 cog-wheel. A Duck's teeth are horny like the skin 

 that covers its whole beak, and act like strainers. 

 When a Duck dabbles in the water, as you have all 

 seen tame ones do, the water that gets into its mouth 

 runs out at the sides between the teetli, but whatever 

 food there is in the mouthful of water gets caught in 

 the teeth, and can then be swallowed." 



"Please tell us," continued Rap, "how many differ- 

 ent kinds of Ducks there are in our country?" 



" About forty," answered the Doctor ; " but I shall 

 not trouble you to learn more than a few of the common 

 ones. They all belong to one family, which also con- 

 tains the Geese and Swans. They are divided into 

 three groups — Fishing Ducks, River or Fresh- water 

 Ducks, and Sea Ducks. 



"The Fishing Ducks are great swimmers and divers. 



