158 cassell's book of birds. 



All travellers who have had an opportunity of studying these Ducks in a wild state tell us that 

 they are beautiful, lively, and well-flavoured birds, equally attractive to the naturalist and the 

 sportsman. This species is extensively distributed throughout the South American continent, from 

 Paraguay to Guiana, and is to be met with almost in equal numbers near the mouths of rivers 

 flowing into the sea, and amid the swamps and marshes of wild uncultivated parts of the country. 

 The Prince von Wied found it swimming upon rivers in the depths of the primitive forests, and also 

 in still, secluded bays, and upon islands near the sea-coast. Schomburghk observed it at an altitude 

 of 1,500 feet above the level of the sea. During the mid-day heat, and in the afternoon, these 

 birds generally seek out shady places upon the shores and on sandbanks ; in the morning and evening 

 they employ themselves in searching for their food, which consists of fishes and snails, also algae 

 and other water-plants. They invariably pass the night upon trees, and if disturbed in the daytime 

 always seek shelter among their branches ; even those which spend their days in marshes and 

 morasses exchange these localities as the sun descends for extensive woods, and perch upon the 

 loftiest trees they can find. Their flight is remarkably rapid, and is always, at their first rising, 

 accompanied by a loud noise, somewhat resembling that produced by a covey of Partridges when first 

 flushed. Their pairing-time seems to be signalised by incessant quarrelling amongst the jealous 

 males ; and if the violence of these combats is to be judged of by the number of feathers left upon 

 their battle-fields, they are more than usually pugnacious. Their nest is sometimes built in the hollow 

 of a tree near the sea-shore, sometimes amid the branches. The female parent shows herself most 

 vigilant in protecting her young ones, and should they be attacked, rushes at once to their rescue ; 

 when she has succeeded in driving back .their enemies she calls them together with a peculiar cry. 

 These birds seem to have two broods during the season — one in May, the other in September. 



In Brazil, tame Musk Ducks are everywhere to be met with ; indeed, at the period of the visit of 

 the Prince von Wied there seemed to be no others kept in a state of domestication. In Germany, 

 also, breeders have endeavoured to rear them for the table, and speak favourably of the result of their 

 efforts. In their good opinion of these birds we cannot participate. To say nothing of their being 

 unable to endure the cold of our winter so well as other more common species, we consider them to 

 be positively dangerous ; they not only attack and do serious damage to other Ducks, but they have 

 been known to set upon children and injure them very seriously. Should any of their companions 

 fall under their displeasure, they follow them unremittingly by land or water, pluck their feathers off 

 and bite them savagely ; indeed, they not unfrequently kill them outright by swimming after them 

 and holding them so long under water that they are drowned. 



The DIVING DUCKS (Fuligidce) were formerly considered as belonging to the same race as 

 the preceding, from which they are now properly separated, seeing that they have no more in common 

 with them than Geese or Swans. The Diving Ducks are at once recognisable by their short, broad, 

 plump body, by their short thick neck, their large head, and moderate-sized beak ; the latter is broad, 

 furnished with very short teeth, and occasionally somewhat enlarged at the base. The tarsi are short, 

 feathered quite to the heel, and compressed laterally. The anterior toes are large, long, and strongly 

 webbed. The wings are short and vaulted, the two first quills being the longest. The tail is short, 

 but broad, consisting of from fourteen to eighteen close-set feathers ; the general plumage is thick and 

 close, differing in colour according to sex and age, and on the head is generally prolonged into a tuft 

 or crest, which is rendered more conspicuous by the brightness of its colours. These Ducks, in 

 correspondence with their power of diving, always prefer open deep water to such as is either shallow 

 or overgrown with plants. The greater number of them live upon the sea, and only visit fresh water 

 during the breeding season. There are, however, some that must be considered as fresh-water birds, 



