DUCKS, GEESE, AND SWANS. 225 



The Smew breeds in the forest swamps of the 

 Arctic regions, making its nest in a hollow fallen 

 log, or in a hole in a tree or stump. The eggs are 

 laid upon the powdered wood, but are eventually 

 surrounded with a quantity of down from the body 

 of the parent. The seven or eight eggs, creamy- 

 white in colour, are laid late in June or early in 

 July. The ducklings are said to be conveyed to 

 the water by the female in her bill. 



GEESE. 



The Geese form an extensive and well-defined 

 sub-family of the ANATID^L termed Anserinae. They 

 are distinguished from their allies by having the 

 lores covered with feathers, and the tarsus reticu- 

 lated back and front. The Geese differ further 

 from the Swans, in having a relatively longer 

 tarsus, and much shorter neck ; and from the 

 Ducks by their short, robust, subconical bill. 

 Geese frequent both land and water, inland districts 

 as well as the coasts and seas. The sexes do not 

 present such striking contrasts of colour as in 

 the Ducks. Geese moult once in the year, in 

 autumn. The distribution of the sub-family is 

 almost a cosmopolitan one, but the New World 

 contains the greatest number of species. Half- 

 a-dozen species are more or less abundant visitors 

 to our islands in winter, but one species only breeds 

 within our limits, and even this has been extirpated 

 from most of its ancient haunts. These half-dozen 



