FAMILY ANATID^E 



quented a swamp (since drained) near France 

 Field in 1923. 



Richmond says the note of this species is a 

 squawk something like that of the Night Heron. 



19. Family ANATID./E 

 The Ducks, Geese and Swans 



This large and well known family is repre- 

 sented in Panama by a few species of ducks, 

 birds that will readily be recognized by the 

 characters familiar in the domestic birds. 

 The heavy, somewhat flattened body, short 

 legs placed far back, webbed feet, long neck, 

 and broad bill more or less widened toward 

 the end, with a small, downwardly projecting 

 nail on the tip of the upper mandible, and the 

 rather large pointed wings, are characteristic. 

 Their flight is fast, with rapid, regular beats 

 of the wings which often make a whistling 

 sound. The neck is held outstretched in 

 flight, the legs drawn in close. The majority 

 of the ducks known from the Canal Zone do 

 not habitually dive, but frequent marshes and 

 the shallow parts of the fresh waters to obtain 

 their food, where a heavy toll is taken from 

 their numbers by sportsmen. 



Many of the ducks undergo an extra molt 

 in summer after the breeding season, by 

 which the adult males temporarily assume a 

 plainer plumage more or less like that of the 

 female (except for the wings, which remain 

 as before), regaining their usual plumage in 

 the fall. As the Canal Zone species that do 

 this are the migrants, they are not likely to 

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