MODE OF FLIGHT. 9 



the surface feeders. Their legs are placed farther 

 back and near the tail ; their down and feathers are 

 thicker and more impervious to water, a circum- 

 stance, indeed, necessitated by their habit of feeding. 

 Their bodies are rounder, their wings shorter, and 

 their flight very irregular, compared with that of 

 Geese or surface-feeding Ducks. Their pinions 

 beat faster, and show that more exertion is required 

 to sustain and project their heavier bodies. They 

 do not take long flights, neither are they to be seen, 

 like the former, soaring against the sky. Their 

 flight is hurried and anxious ; they never wheel 

 about with the grace and uncertainty of Teal ; but 

 fly straight, and with all haste, to places they appear 

 to have previously chosen. Pintail will at times fly 

 with the irregularity of Divers, but nevertheless 

 have an easy and graceful flight to which no Diver 

 can pretend. A Diver when alighting comes down 

 with an awkward sliding splash, tearing along the 

 surface for several yards, in its effort to overcome 

 the impetus of flight. A Duck rests almost on the 

 first spot it touches ; with outstretched feet and 

 fluttering wings it gradually sits afloat. It may 

 be remarked, that the wing of a Diver beats 

 ceaselessly, when the bird flies ; Ducks will take a 

 skim now and again between the strokes. The 

 force of a Wild-duck on wing must be very great. 

 The keeper of the Tuscar Rock lighthouse told 

 me that Ducks striking the lantern in a gale of wind, 

 had more than once smashed the thick plate glass. 

 Though Divers have much less wing power than 

 Ducks, their voyages when migrating are quite as 

 long. They can, however, rest and feed in mid- 



