THE WATER-FOWL FAMILY 



THE Anatidae, or family of wild fowl, comprises 

 the swans, geese, sea-ducks, river-ducks, and mer- 

 gansers. From time immemorial this group of 

 birds has been most important in its relations to 

 man. Divided into various subfamilies, it con- 

 tains nearly two hundred species, about sixty of 

 which are North American. The peculiar char- 

 acteristics of these birds are well known : all have 

 heavy bodies, and most of them long necks ; the 

 bill varies much in shape in the different species, 

 but is usually broad, covered with a soft skin and 

 with a hard nail at the tip ; it is often provided 

 with little comb-like processes situated on its 

 inner edges, which assist in sifting the food 

 from its common environment of mud and sand. 

 The tongue is large and fleshy, adapted for all 

 sorts of water- vegetable material and various crus- 

 tacea and shellfish which comprise the diet. The 

 windpipe varies curiously in the different indi- 

 viduals, being convoluted and twisted, thus afford- 

 ing the volume of voice noted particularly among 

 some of the geese and swans. The legs are short, 

 the forward toes webbed, the tarsus and feet cov- 



