234 BRITISH BIRDS. 



C|)f ff)c 



THE bill of this genus is strong, broad, depressed, 

 or flat, and commonly furnished with a joint on the 

 upper mandible, and at the end with a nail; the 

 edges of both mandibles divided into lamillse or 

 teeth: nostrils small and oval: tongue broad, edges, 

 near the base, fringed : legs short, and feathered to 

 the knee; feet webbed; the hind toe free, articu- 

 lated high up on the tarsus, provided with a 

 membrane, or the mere appearance of one; the 

 middle toe the longest. 



From the Swan downward to the Teal, they are 

 all a clean-plum aged beautiful race of birds, and 

 some of them exquisitely so. Those which have 

 been reclaimed from a state of nature, and live 

 dependent on man, are extremely useful to him: 

 under his protection they breed in great abundance, 

 and without requiring much of his time or care, 

 lead their young to the pool almost as soon as they 

 are hatched, where they instantly, with instinctive 

 perception, begin to search for their food, which at 

 first consists chiefly of weeds, worms, and insects; 

 these they sift, as it were, from the mud, and for 

 that purpose their bills are admirably adapted. 

 When they are further advanced in life, they pick 

 up the sodden scattered grain of the farm-yard, 

 which, but for their assiduous searchings, would be 

 lost. To them also are allotted the larger quan- 



* Under this head is now included the description of three genera, 

 viz. : Anser, Cygnus, Anas. 



