222 A HISTORY OF 



up th(..r young by the water side, and leading them to their food as 

 soon as out of the shell. Their nests are usually built among heath 

 or rushes, not far from the water : and they lay twelve, fourteen, or 

 more eggs, before they sit : yet this is not always their method ; the 

 dangers they continually encounter from their ground situation, some- 

 times obliges them to change their manner of building ; and their 

 awkward nests are often seen exalted on the tops of trees. This must be 

 a very great labour to perform, as the duck's bill is but ill formed for 

 building a nest, and giving the materials of which it is composed a 

 sufficient stability to stand the weather. The nest, whether high or 

 low, is generally composed of singular materials. The longest grass, 

 mixed with heath, and lined with the bird's own feathers, usually go 

 to the composition : however, in proportion as the climate is colder, the 

 nest is more artificially made, and more warmly lined. In the Arc- 

 tic regions, nothing can exceed the great care all of this kind take to 

 protect their eggs from the intenseness of the weather. While the 

 gull and the penguin kind seem to disregard the severest cold, the 

 duck, in those regions, forms itself a hole to lay in, shelters the ap- 

 proach, lines it with a layer of long grass and clay ; within that an- 

 other of moss ; and lastly, a warm coat of feathers, or down. The 

 eider duck is particularly remarkable for the warmth of its nest. This 

 bird, which, as was said, is about twice as large as the common duck, 

 and resides in the colder climates, lays from six to eight eggs, making 

 her nest among the rocks or the plants along the sea-shore. The ex- 

 ternal materials of the nests are such as are in common with the rest 

 of the kind ; but the inside lining, on which the eggs are immediately 

 deposited, is at once the softest, warmest, and the lightest substance 

 with which we are acquainted. This is no other than the inside 

 down which covers the breast of the bird in the breeding season. 

 This the female plucks off with her bill, and furnishes the inside of 

 her nest with a tapestry more valuable than the most skilful artist can 

 produce. The natives watch the place where she begins to build, 

 and, suffering her to lay, take away both the eggs arid the nest 

 The duck, however, not discouraged by the first disappointment 

 builds and lays in the same place a second time ; and this they in 

 the same manner take away : the third time she builds, but the drake 

 must supply the down from his breast to line the nest with ; and if 

 this be robbed, they both forsake the place, and breed there no more. 

 This down the natives take care to separate from the dirt and moss 

 with which it is mixed ; and though no people stand in more need of 

 a warm covering than themselves, yet their necessities compel them 

 to sell it to the more indolent and luxurious inhabitants of the south 

 for brandy and tobacco. 



As they possess the faculties of flying and swimming, so they are 

 in general birds of passage, and, it is most probable, perform their 

 journeys across the ocean as well on the water as in the air. Those 

 that migrate to this country, on the approach of winter, are seldom 

 found so well tasted or so fat as fowls that continue with us the year 

 round : their flesh is often lean, and still oftener fishy ; which flavour 

 it has probably contracted in the journey, as their food in the Jakes 

 of Laoland, from wnence they descend, is generally of the insect 

 kind. 



