114 ZOOLOGY. 



tity of leaves, (fee, that some Naturalists liave been induced 

 to believe that these birds do not incubate, but that their eggs 

 are hatched by the heat engendered by putrefaction ; the 

 young take to the water as soon as excluded from the shell. 

 Several species are natives of Great Britain. British Orni- 

 thology ^ vols.l, 3. 



ORDER IX. 



Palmapedes. WEB-FOOTED. 



This order of Birds is conspicuously distinguished from 

 all the preceding, by having the three front toes in all, and in 

 some genera, the /owr toes united hy a membrane^ from 

 which circumstance it derives its name of Web-Footed. 



Of the various genera composing this numerous family, 



most kinds feed on fish, worms, insects, and rejectamenta of 



the sea and rivers ; they all reside on the shores of the ocean, 



or in the vicinity of large rivers and lakes ; but very few at 



present will class among the positively useful, as far as 



regards Man ; the Duck tribe alone has been selected for 



domestication, and which now greatly contributes to the 



comforts and luxuries of civilized life ; their flesh and eggs 



serving as food, and their feathers and down also contribute 



to the conveniences of Mankind. Excepting the extensive 



genus of Ducks, the flesh of most kinds is rank, fishy, and 



unfit as food for man, some of the kinds build on the ground, 



others deposit their eggs without any kind of nest, in holes 



in the earth ; a few dig deep burrows in the banks of the 



