THE BIRDS 221 



black in color, with hooked bills, long necks, and short 

 wings, which give them a duck-like flight. The much 

 larger pelicans (Fig. 124) are at once distinguished by long 

 bills, from which is suspended a capacious membranous sac. 

 All these birds are sociable in their habits, breeding, roost- 

 ing, and fishing in great flocks. Their food consists of 

 fishes, which the shags pursue under water and capture in 

 their hooked beaks ; while the pelicans, diving from a con- 

 siderable height or swimming rapidly on the surface, use 

 their pouches as dip-nets. The nests, usually built of sea- 

 weed or of sticks, are placed on rocky cliffs or on the 

 ground in less elevated places. 



206. Ducks, geese, and swans (Lamellirostres). The birds 

 of this order, with their broad, flat, serrated beaks, short 

 legs, and webbed feet, afe well known, for in a wild or 

 domesticated state they extend all over the earth. All are 

 excellent swimmers, many dive remarkably well, and are 

 strong on the wing. While a considerable number breed 

 within the United States, their nesting-grounds are gener- 

 ally farther north, and in the early spring it is not unusual 

 to see them migrating in flocks from their warmer winter 

 homes. Among the ducks, the mergansers, mallards (from 

 which our domestic species have been derived), the teals, 

 and the beautiful wood-duck remain with us the year 

 round, dwelling on quiet streams and shallow ponds, living 

 on fish, Crustacea, and seeds. In the more open waters 

 of the larger lakes and along the seacoast we find the can- 

 vasback, the scaup-ducks, and the eiders which supply the 

 famous down of commerce. Of the few species of geese 

 which inhabit the United States, the Canada goose (Branta 

 canadensis) is perhaps the most familiar. During their 

 migrations to the nesting sites they fly in Y-shaped flocks, 

 their " honks " announcing the opening of spring. The 

 brant (B. bernicla] is also common in the eastern part of 

 the country, where it, like its relations, lives on vegetable 

 substances entirely. The swans are familiar in their semi- 



