58 INTRODUCTION. 



approaches, these sounds are gradually resumed, at 

 first coming from the ground, as warnings that 

 it is time to be alert; as the darkness and still- 

 ness of night sets in, one large flock after another 

 hastens to its^feeding-ground, and the various calls 

 and the noise of wings is heard with a clearness 

 which is sufficient to enable the sportsman to mark 

 the kinds and trace his prey to their feeding stations, 

 to make him aware of their approach long before 

 they come within his reach. 



In an economical relation, this Order is of con- 

 siderable importance. It is scarcely necessary to 

 state that it is to the members of it that we owe 

 all our domesticated breeds of geese, ducks, &c., 

 and that from them our finest feathers and downs, 

 employed as articles of luxury, or by the fair sex 

 as dresses and adornments of ornamental comfort, are 

 derived. Next to the Gallinaceous Birds, they 

 hold the highest rank for artificial breeding and 

 improvement, and after being so treated, stand in 

 high reputation for the table. Their breeding and 

 rearing, in all their branches, yield considerable in- 

 comes to their proprietors, and employ numbers for 

 their care. Among northern nations, the collection 

 of the eggs and young of many wild species are 

 regular objects of employment and commerce ; * by 



* The rent of St. Kilda is paid almost entirely from feathers 

 collected from both young and old birds, 240 stones being the 

 quantity required ; while their whiter light is supplied from oil 

 collected from the stomach of the fulmar. Wilson, West. Isles, 

 ii. p. 27. 



