84 BIBDS WEB-FOOTED DIAGRAM 4 



to its nest with the fish that it has killed, it sometimes happens 

 that the front of its neck and breast are spotted with blood ; 

 and this no doubt has given rise to the fable that it pierced its 

 breast to feed its young; but this story is no truer than a thousand 

 other fables related of birds. 



The swans, geese, and ducks, form a family of water-birds 

 characterised by their broad and flattened beak. They have all 

 very downy feathers, which are largely used for making bedding. 



The swan is reared in domesticity for the beauty of its plumage, 

 but it is also met with in a wild state in great marshes. It 

 makes its nest among dry reeds, and lays seven or eight greenish 

 grey eggs, in the month of February. The female sits upon 

 them for six weeks, but the male does not leave her, and defends 

 her against any enemies who might disturb her. 



The goose is a valuable bird in the poultry yard, but it is also 

 found in this country in flocks in a wild state. It makes great 

 migrations, and flies like the cranes in a triangular arrangement, 

 in order to cleave the air with more ease. G-eese do not deserve 

 the reputation in which they are held ; they are intelligent 

 animals, although they do not appear so. In domesticity, geese 

 afford quill-pens and down. The former are the wing feathers 

 which are pulled out twice a year. They then undergo a 

 preparation which makes them brittle, and capable of being cut 

 with the knife. When geese are reared for the table, they are 

 allowed to feed at large with us ; but on the continent they are 

 shut up, and given as much to eat as they can swallow ; and 

 they are sometimes even put info small cages where they have 

 scarcely room to move. The animal then grows fat, and yields 

 a highly valuable grease. At the same time, the liver has 

 grown to two or three timer its former size ; it is taken out 

 after killing the bird, and is used to make patts des foies gras, for 

 which Strasburg is especially famous. 



Duch, like geese, are very valuable for food, and their feathers 

 are also useful. On the continent they are fattened like geese, 

 and their foies gras are even more highly esteemed. 



