DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 225 
The Smew breeds in the forest swamps of the 
Arctic regions, making its nest in a hollow fallen 
log, or ina hole in a tree or stump. The eggs are 
laid upon the powdered wood, but are eventually 
surrounded with a quantity of down from the body 
of the parent. The seven or eight eggs, creamy- 
white in colour, are laid late in June or early in 
July. The ducklings are said to be conveyed to 
the water by the female in her bill. 
GEESE. 
The Geese form an extensive and well-defined 
sub-family of the ANaATIDA termed Anserinez. They 
are distinguished from their allies by having the 
lores covered with feathers, and the tarsus reticu- 
lated back and front. The Geese differ further 
from the Swans, in having a relatively longer 
tarsus, and much shorter neck; and from the 
Ducks by their short, robust, subconical bill. 
Geese frequent both land and water, inland districts 
as well as the coasts and seas. The sexes do not 
present such striking contrasts of colour as in 
the Ducks. Geese moult once in the year, in 
autumn. The distribution of the sub-family is 
almost a cosmopolitan one, but the New World 
contains the greatest number of species. Half- 
a-dozen species are more or less abundant visitors 
to our islands in winter, but one species only breeds 
within our limits, and even this has been extirpated 
from most of its ancient haunts. These half-dozen 
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