THE SWIMMERS. 143 



disposition is even more quarrelsome and imperious than that of the Nile Goose. A pair of these 

 birds, when placed among other water-fowl, begin in a very short time to assume unlimited authority, 

 and their behaviour becomes (especially during the breeding season) absolutely insupportable. Never- 

 theless, they soon learn to recognise their keepers, to whom they exhibit considerable attachment. 

 In New Holland they would long ago have been numbered among the inhabitants of every farmyard 

 had it not been for this unbearable conduct. Such as have been brought to Europe have again and 

 again hatched and reared a numerous progeny, so that with us they might readily be acclimatised. 

 One principal obstacle to their breeding in the north is the contrariety of the seasons. In Australia 

 they breed in the spring, which, of course, corresponds with our autumn ; so that in the northern 

 hemisphere, the young brood, becoming at once exposed to the rigours of winter, not unfrequently 

 perish. We have, however, already learnt that those birds that have lost their eggs breed again in 

 February, hence in the succeeding months there is every reason to suppose the young may be reared 

 without difficulty. During pairing t,mie the affection of the sexes towards each other is unmistakable. 

 The Gander walks around his mate with graceful salutations, keeps vigilant watch over her safety, and 

 resolutely drives away all other intruders, great and small, tha,t may happen to approach the domain 

 which he has selected. The care of constructing the nest appears to devolve upon the female, who 

 always selects the best materials within her reach ; and, although the result of her labours is not an 

 artistically-constructed cradle, it is considerably more so than the nests of the generality of Geese, its 

 interior being smoothly rounded and comfortably lined with feathers. The eggs are comparatively 

 small, somewhat round in shape, smooth-shelled, and of a yellowish white colour. From observations 

 made in Paris we found the duration of incubation to extend over thirty days ; in a colder climate 

 it is somewhat longer. In the park of our friend, M. Comely, in Belgium, thirty-eight days elapsed 

 before the young escaped from their shell. On the very day of their escape they ran after their mother, 

 picking up food from among the grass. They refused to eat hard-boiled eggs, chopped earthworms, 

 and other kinds of animal food, and would not even touch white bread, confining themselves 

 exclusively, as it appeared, to green vegetables. No sooner are the young hatched than the pugnacity 

 of the Gander displays itself in full force ; he seems to fear nothing, and attacks a man with as much 

 animosity as he exhibits towards every other animal that intrudes upon his privacy. " I considered 

 my Gander bad enough before," writes M. Comely, " but now I think he must be mad. He attacks 

 every living thing indiscriminately. One of my large Cranes happened to come in his way ; he fle\y 

 at him, and although the keeper was not a hundred yards off, and ran as fast as he could to part them, 

 the poor Crane was killed before he could interfere. One night the Gander got into the stable where 

 another of these birds was kept, and in the morning the body of the Crane was found almost hacked 

 to pieces." However ornamental these Geese may be, it is evident that it is only where the)- have 

 plenty of room to themselves and are not likely to interfere with other animals, that they are eligible 

 subjects for domestication. 



The DUCKS (Anates) constitute the most numerous and varied family of the entire order, and 

 are at once distinguishable from the Geese by the flatness of their feet, and from the Swans by the 

 shortness of their necks. In these birds the body is short and broad, the neck short or moderately 

 long, and the head thick ; the beak, which is about the same length as the head, is either of 

 uniform breadth, or is highest towards the tip ; the base of the bill is more or less high, and in some 

 instances furnished with an excrescence; the upper mandible is arched, and projects so far over the 

 sides of the lower one as partially to enclose it ; the margins of both mandibles are sharply 

 denticulated ; the weak flat foot, which is placed very far back, has the centre toe as long as the 

 tarsus ; the hind toe is well developed, and in some species furnished with a membranous lobe ; 



