30 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



informs me a few of these birds were seen, about fifteen or twenty years 

 ago, in the neighborhood of Erie city. Dr. Walter Yan Fleet, of Renovo, 

 mentions it as an accidental visitor in Clinton county. About five or six 

 years ago three or four of these Pelicans were seen on the Susquehanna 

 river, at Keating; one of them was shot and is now in the possession of 

 a gentleman residing at Renovo, Pa., a delightful summer resort in the 

 mountains, on the Philadelphia and Erie railroad. 



ORDER ANSERES. LAMELLIROSTRAL SWIMMERS. 



FAMILY ANATHXflS. DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 



THE DUCKS, ETC. 



The ducks, geese and swans, according to Dr. Coues {Key to N. A. Birds'), are 

 represented by nearly one hundred and seventy-five species, inhabiting all parts of 

 the world. Of this large number there are probably about fifty kinds which occur 

 regularly in different parts of the United States, as residents or during migrations. 

 In Pennsylvania nearly twenty species are found during the spring and fall migra- 

 tions and in winter. But few species are now known to breed regularly in this 

 state ; in fact, the Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), it seems, is the only one that may be 

 said to be at all common and fairly well distributed (in the wooded and thinly pop- 

 ulated districts chiefly) as a breeder. Several species are also found in different 

 sections of the state as rare and irregular visitants, and occasionally a few others, 

 which have wandered considerably from their common range, are captured here. 

 The Canada Goose, the Mergansers, the Wood, Ruddy and Buflie-head ducks, and 

 some few other kinds are met with quite frequently about the rivers, creeks, lakes, 

 and numerous ponds in nearly all parts of the state. The great majority of the 

 members of this important family which visit here are, however, found mainly on 

 the large rivers especially he Susquehanna and about the shores of Lake Erie. 



The best locations for duck shooting in this state are at different points on the 

 Susquehanna, from Harrisburg southward, and at Erie bay, where several species 

 are quite numerous every year during the regular migrations. "It is not easy to 

 overrate the economic importance of this large family. It is true that the Mergan- 

 sers, some of the sea ducks and certain maritime geese that feed chiefly upon animal 

 substances, are scarcely fit for food ; but the great majority afford a bounteous sup- 

 ply of sapid meat a chief dependence, indeed, with the population of some inhos- 

 pitable regions. Such is the case, for example, in the boreal parts of this continent, 

 whither vast bands ot water- fowl resort to breed during the fleeting Arctic summer. 

 Their coming marks a season of comparative plenty in places where hunger often 

 pinches the belly, and their warm, downy covering is patched into garments almost 

 cold-proof. 



"The general traits of the anserine birds are too well known to require more than 

 passing notice. They are salacious to a degree, remarkable even in the hot-blooded, 

 passionate class of birds ; a circumstance rendering the production of hybrids fre- 

 quent, and favoring the study of this subject. If we recall the peculiar actions of 

 geese nipping herbage, and of ducks 'dabbling' in the water, and know that some 

 species, as the Mergansers, pursue fish and other live prey under water, we have 

 the principal modes of feeding. Nidification is usually on the ground, sometimes in 

 a hollow tree ; the nest is often warmly lined with live feathers ; the eggs are usu- 

 ally of some plain pale color, as greenish, drab or creamy ; the clutch varies in num- 

 ber, commonly ranging from half a dozen to a dozen and a half. The young are 



