144 Order VIII 



" nail." Both mandibles are furnished at their edges 

 with small hard cross-plates, which act as a sieve when 

 the bill is shut. The feet are short, the front toes 

 webbed, with the hind-toe at a higher level, and the 

 claws small and curved. The wings are rather long 

 and broad ; the tail is usually of moderate length, but 

 is much produced in such forms as the Pintail and 

 Long- tailed Duck. For the simultaneous loss of the 

 flight-feathers and the eclipse plumage the reader must 

 be referred to the Introduction. The young are covered 

 with thick yellow, white, grey or brownish down and 

 run as well as swim from the shell. The eggs are 

 unspotted white, green, or creamy, and are bedded in 

 down torn from the female's breast. 



Family ANATID^B, or Geese, Swans, and Ducks 



Not only is this Family very extensive, but the 

 members are distributed over the whole of the globe, 

 while many of them are residents in or migrants to 

 our country. For instance, the King Eider is almost 

 exclusively an Arctic species, the Whooper Swan mainly * 

 so, the Steamer Duck is Patagonian and Chilian, the 

 Musk Duck is Australian, and one of the Teals comes 

 from South Georgia in the Antarctic Seas. Though 

 all are in the main anatomically alike, yet they are 

 sufficiently different in appearance and habits to admit 

 of their being placed in eleven groups or Subfamilies, 

 of which five concern us as including British species. 



SUBFAMILY Anserinse, OR GEESE 



We have only a single species of Goose which breeds 

 with us, one of our four " Grey Geese " as opposed to 

 our " Black Geese." This is the Grey-lag Goose (Anser 



