DOMESTIC ANIMALS 119 



count are not wetted by water. They shake off any adher- 

 ing drops after swimming, and are dry. Is this of any value 

 to them ? Do chickens get wet in a rain ? Do they like it ? 

 Do you feel warm or cold when your clothing gets wet ? 



3. Dive for aquatic animals and plants. Bill covered 

 with a soft skin by means of which they feel about in the 

 mud for their food. Horny plates on bill and fringes on 

 tongue form a sieve to let the water run out and retain the 

 prey captured. 



4. Ducklings take to the water instinctively. Have you 

 observed how amazed and worried a hen is when her sup- 

 posed chicks suddenly tumble into a pond ? Hens are 

 often set on duck eggs. 



5. Wild ducks and geese are good flyers. Do their tame 

 relatives fly well ? Why not ? 



6. Wild members of the duck family migrate. Recently 

 tamed birds become very restless in fall and spring, and 

 often leave with their wild friends, unless their wings are 

 clipped. Do thoroughly domesticated birds show the mi- 

 grating instinct ? 



7. Show how ducks and geese are adapted to their environ- 

 ment and to the life they lead. 



50. Influence of Man upon Animals. 



MATERIAL : Pictures of different breeds of domestic animals and, as 

 far as possible, some of their wild relatives or ancestral types. 



As young animals generally closely resemble their parents, 

 man has been able by a careful selection of breeders to raise 

 just such animals as he desired. We have to-day very large 

 dogs and horses, and also very small ones. Shape, color, 

 and intelligence of animals can also be influenced by breed- 

 ing. Many so-called full-blooded types have been created 

 by man within the last one or two hundred years ; a few 

 are older, but some are much younger. 



