4.04 HISfOllY OF 



By these marks, these simihir tribes may be known asunder ; and 

 though the duck should be found to equal the goose in size, 

 which sometimes happens, yet there are still other sufEcient dis- 

 tinctions. 



But they all agree in many particulars; and have a nearer 

 affinity to each other than the neighbouring kinds in any other 

 department. Their having been tamed has produced alterations 

 , in each, by which they differ as much from the wild ones of their 

 respective kinds, as they do among themselves. There is nearly 

 as much difference between the wild and the tame duck, as be- 

 tween some sorts of the duck and the goose ; but still the cha- 

 racteristics of the kind are strongly mai'ked and obvious ; and 

 this tribe can never be mistaken. 



The bill is the first great obvious distinction of the goose kind 

 from all of the feathered tribe. In other birds, it is round and 

 wedge-like, or crooked at the end. In all the goose-kind it is 

 fiat and broad, made for the purpose of skimming ponds and 

 lakes of the mantling weeds that stand on the surface. The 

 bills of other birds are made of a horny substance throughout ; 

 these have their inoffensive bills sheathed with a skin which covers 

 them all over. The bill of every other biid seems, in some 

 measure, formed for piercing or tearing; theirs are only fitted 

 for shovelling up their food, which is chiefly of the vegetable 

 kind. 



Though these birds do not reject animal food when offered 

 them, yet they can contentedly subsist upon vegetables, and 

 seldom seek any other. They are easily provided for ; wher- 

 ever there is water, there seems to be plenty. All the other 

 web-footed tribes are continually voracious, continually preying. 

 These lead more harmless lives : the weeds on the surface of 

 the water, or the insects iit the bottom, the grass by the bank, 

 or the fruits and corn in cultivated grounds, are sufficient to 

 satisfy their easy appetites ; yet these, like every other animal, 

 will not reject flesh, if properly prepared for them ; it is suffi- 

 cient praise to them that they do not eagerly pursue it. 



As their food is chiefly vegetables, so their fecundity is in 

 proportion. We have had frequent opportunities to obsei've, 

 that all the predatory tribes, whether of birds or quadrupeds, 

 are barren and unfruitful. We have seen the lion with its two 

 tubs ; the eagle w ith the same number ; and the penguin with 



