CHAPTER H. 

 DUCKS, GEESE, SWANS, AND PELICANS. 



WILLOUGHBY distributes the Palmipedes into such as have the 

 back toe, and those in which it is absent ; the former, again, into 

 such as have the four toes webbed together, and such as have the 

 back toe separated from the others. These latter he again subdi- 

 vides into narrow-billed and broad-billed; the former having 

 their bills either hooked at the end or straight and sharp- pointed. 

 The hook-billed have them either even or toothed on the sides. 

 Those which have them straight or sharp-pointed are either short- 

 winged and divers such as Doukers and Loons or long- winged, 

 such as Gulls. The broad-billed are divided into Ducks and 

 Geese. The Ducks are either Sea or Pond Ducks. " The Ducks," 

 he adds, " have shorter necks and larger feet, in proportion to 

 their bodies, than Geese. Howbeit, the biggest in this kind do 

 equal, if not exceed, the least in that. They have shorter legs 

 than Geese, and situated more backward, so that they go waddling ; 

 a broader and flatter back, and so a more compressed body ; and, 

 lastly, a broader and flatter bill. Their tongue is pectinated, or 

 toothed, on each side, which is common with them and the 

 Geese." 



" The Ducks are of two sorts, either wild or tame. The wild, 

 again, are of two sorts : 1, Sea Ducks, which feed mostwhat in 

 salt waters, dive much in feeding, have a broader bill (especially 

 the upper one), and bending forward to work on the stem ; a large 

 hind toe, and then, likely for a rudder, a long train, not sharp- 

 pointed. 2, Pond Ducks, which haunt plashes, have a straight 

 and narrower bill, a very little hind toe, a sharp-pointed train, a 



