216 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



the romantic and otherwise solitary shores. In an econo- 

 mical relation, this Order is of considerable importance. To 

 it we owe all our domestic breeds of geese and ducks, etc., 

 and upon it multitudes in our own and other countries par- 

 tially or entirely depend for their subsistence. In the birds 

 of this Order the feet are webbed, which enables them to 

 swim with rapidity and ease, and in many forms, to give 

 greater effect to their motions in the water, the limbs are 

 placed very far back ; but the adaptation of their forms to 

 an aquatic life often renders them conspicuously awkward 

 in their movements on the land, which indeed certain species 

 frequent very little, except during the breeding season. The 

 plumage of the water-birds is very dense, consisting of a 

 warm undergrowth of down, overlaid by large and sometimes 

 silky feathers, which throw off the water as if their surface 

 was oiled. The families of this Order include the Duck 

 tribe, the Divers, the Auks, the Pelicans, and the Gulls, 

 all of which find representatives in our British list. 



DUCKS. 



This family includes the Ducks, Geese, and Swans, and 

 its members, while they are extensively diffused over the 

 earth's surface, are of great importance to man, furnishing 



