68 



THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



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EIDER-DUCK 



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the males wear a distinctive livery; but the 

 males for a few weeks during the summer 

 assume more or less completely the livery of 

 the female, a process aptly described as going 

 into " eclipse." The assumption of the female 

 dress at this season is necessary, since it 

 harmonises completely with the surrounding 

 foliage, and so effectually conceals the bird at 

 a time when it is peculiarly helpless ; for, .1-, 

 with all birds, the quills or flight-feathers are 

 cast off by the process known as moulting 

 once a year, but instead of being replaced in 

 pairs, and the flight remaining unaffected, they 

 are shed all at once, so that escape from 

 enemies must be sought by concealment. 



Usually among birds the male has the 

 more powerful voice, but with the mallard 

 and its allies the reverse is the case, the 



female giving forth the loud familiar " quack, quack," whilst the note of the male sounds like 



a feeble attempt to answer its mate, but smothered by a cold in the head. This peculiar and 



characteristic subdued voice is associated with a remarkable bulb-shaped bony enlargement at 



the bottom of the windpipe, just where it branches off to the right and left lungs, the 



female being without this swelling. 



The nest is composed of grass, and lined with down plucked by the female from her own 



breast, with the sole object, it is generally believed, of keeping the eggs warm ; but it is 



possible that the down is removed as much for the sake of bringing the warm surface of the 



body in closer contact with the eggs. The site chosen for the nest is exceedingly varied ; 



usually the nest is placed on the ground and near the water, but sometimes in a hedgerow 



or in a wood, and occasionally in trees, and instances are on record where the deserted nests 



of hawks and crows have been appropriated. At such times the young seem to be brought 



to the ground by the parent, who carries them down in her bill. It is some time before 



the wings of the young birds 



are big enough to carry them ; 



indeed, they are quite full 



grown in so far as the body 



is concerned. At this stage 



they are known as " flappers." 



Advantage was at one time 



taken of their helplessness in 



the " sport" known as" flapper- 

 shooting." On other occasions 



numbers of people assembled 



and " beat " a vast tract of 



country, driving these young 



flappers before them to a 



given spot where nets were 



placed, in which as many as 



150 dozen have been taken 



at one time. Fortunately this 



practice has been abolished """ h " f ~ ""'"> I*'**- *" 



by Act of Parliament. SHELDRAKE 



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