THE BEAK. 31 



slender beaks in soft mire for their food. They were 

 feeding close to the edge of a lake, pushing their bills 

 into the thin mud, by repeated thrusts, quite up to the 

 eyes, then drawing them back again with great quick- 

 ness, and every now and then shifting their ground a 

 little. 



The bills of Ducks and similar birds which live partly 

 by suction, and partly on small fish or aquatic animals, 

 merit particular notice from their peculiar adaptation 

 to that office. The inside of them, towards the edge, 

 being thickly set with rows or lines of short, strong, 

 sharp-pointed prickles. These might be mistaken for 

 teeth; this, however, is not their purpose, which is 

 merely to act as a sort of filter. Observe a Duck in a 

 brook, crushing with that quick motion of his head, soft 

 weeds and other substances mixed with the mud. The 

 operation is thus carried on: by plunging its flat bill 

 into the oozy pulp, the finer portion is sucked up through 

 these tooth-like lines; what it chooses is retained, the 

 rest being thrown out and washed away by the rapid 

 clattering motion of the flat bill. As a further help, 

 enabling them to judge what is an agreeable and proper 

 food, these birds are furnished with an additional supply 

 of delicate nerves, extending to the very end of the 

 beak ; hence it has been conjectured that they have some 

 sense of taste, of which birds in general are supposed to 

 be destitute. That this is the use for which these 

 additional nerves is designed, may be further gathered 

 from the accurate examinations of a bill, much resem- 

 bling a Duck's, belonging to one of the most extraor- 

 dinary animals in the world, found only in New South 

 Wales. It is called the " Duck-billed Platypus;" having 

 the beak of a duck, the body of an animal, and the feet 

 webbed, and furnished also with strong claws. As it 

 lives underground generally, its eyes are like the mole's, 

 so small as nearly to prevent its seeing. It depends, 

 therefore, in great measure upon the sense of feeling, 

 and smelling, and tasting belonging to the beak for its 



