LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS. ORDER ANSERES.) 
Ducks, Geese, aXxD Swans. (FAMILY ANaTID«) 
This family contains some two hundred species, and 
is represented in all parts of the world. It includes five 
subfamilies: the Mergansers (M/ergina), or Fish-eating 
Ducks; the Pond or River Ducks (Anatina), the Bay or 
Sea Ducks (Fuliguling); the Geese (Anserina); and 
the Swans (Cygnina). 
Ducks, like all hunted birds, are exceedingly wild, 
and comparatively few species will come within reach of 
the student’s opera-glass. The group may therefore be 
reviewed briefly. The Mergansers or Shelldrakes, num- 
bering three species, have narrow, serrate bills which 
enable them to hold the fish they pursue and catch 
under water (see Fig. 18). 
The River Ducks have little or no lobe or flap on the 
hind toe. In this group belong our Mallard, Widgeon, 
Pintail, Blne-winged and Green-winged 
BAS Dy” =~ Teals, Black Duck, Wood Duck, and 
others. All but the last two nest in 
the North and are found in our latitude only during 
- their spring and fall migrations, or, if the weather be 
mild, in the winter. The Black Duck and Wood Duck 
nest rarely in the Middle States. 
All these birds feed in shallow water by “ dabbling” 
or “tipping,” terms which will be readily understood by 
any one who has watched domesticated Ducks feeding. 
The Bay and Sea Ducks, on the contrary, are divers, 
and may descend to the bottom in water more than one 
hundred and fifty feet in depth. They are to be dis- 
tinguished from the River Ducks by the precence of a 
flap or lobe on the hind toe. The commoner members of 
