ANATIDyE. 



WE naturally enter upon the Fifth or Natatorial 

 Order of Birds with the Anatidae, or Ducks and 

 Geese, a large group whose dwelling is among 

 the waters, from which they derive their almost 

 sole support, and around the margins of which they 

 incubate and rear their young. The Ducks and 

 Geese, and Swans, though aquatic in their habits, 

 many of them exclusively so, conjoin a Grail atorial 

 form, frequently breed at a distance from the water 

 (a few even perch and nestle in trees), wander 

 far from it in quest of food, and seek for their 

 support often in the midst of cultivation. An 

 exotic form, the Flamingos, considered to lead di- 

 rectly from the waders, are in fact Grallatorial geese ; 

 and though fitted with an apparatus of the bill 

 similar to them, and taking their food in the same 

 manner, they follow or pursue it like the waders, 

 their lengthened legs and small feet unfitting them 

 for frequency or expertness in swimming. In the 

 true geese and swans, we have the species partly 

 feeding on grain, living well in comparative ab- 

 sence from water, and capable of easy domestica- 

 tion ; the latter almost a certain indication of their 

 being a representative of the Rasores. In the next 

 sub-family, we have the facility for domestication 



