268 THE INDIAN RUNNER DUCK 



It possesses an orange patch at the base of the bill, and is able to 

 produce a very grating noise. This cry resembles the word " hoop, " 

 and is produced through the peculiar arrangement of the trachea 

 or windpipe, and is also a characteristic of the Hooper or Whistling 

 Swan (C. ferns), which has a slender beak, black at its tip and 

 yellow at the base, whilst it wants the black knot or tubercle on 

 the beak. This bird arrives in Britain in winter and departs in 

 April. 



DUCK (Anas sp.). .The ducks proper are distinguished from the 

 swans by having shorter necks ; and from the geese by having 

 shorter necks, and legs less strong and placed further back. They 

 also subsist largely on insects and other animal food, while geese 

 and swans live mostly on vegetable food. 



FIG. 149. THE INDIAN RUNNER DUCK. 



The MALLARD or COMMON WILD DUCK (A. boschas) is the original 

 stock of the domesticated duck, which appears to have been re- 

 claimed at a very early period, and is now sometimes utilized for 

 effecting a cross between the domestic duck in order to produce 

 a smaller, more fleshy and less fat bird for table, the male domestic 

 duck, usually Rouen, consorting with the female wild duck, and 

 after once crossing, the progeny are as much at home on the 

 farm-pond as the tame birds. 



Ducks of various small breeds, such as the black (East India) 

 and Indian Runner, both excellent foragers, are often kept on 

 ornamental waters, and render good service in keeping down weeds 

 and confervaceous growths in the water, and in scouring the adjoin- 

 ing ground and freeing it from slugs and allied pests. This applies 

 to all the species and varieties of duck kept mainly for ornament 

 in moderate number on ponds and lakes. Too many ducks in 

 proportion to the area of water and forage ground spoil both, the 



