THE SWIMMERS. 159 



seeing that they spend the greater portion of their lives upon ponds, lakes, or rivers. In consequence 

 of the backward position of their legs, they are obliged, when they stand or walk, to keep themselves 

 very upright ; indeed, their gait can scarcely be called a waddle, inasmuch as it is with difficulty that 

 they stagger along. Their flight is, perhaps, better than that of most other Ducks, and when once on 

 the wing they move pretty rapidly through the air. In the water they are quite in their proper element ; 

 their broad powerful body is so deeply immersed that only a small portion of the top of the back is 

 visible, and their tail touches the surface of the water. As they row themselves nimbly along, striking 

 well out their broadly-webbed feet, they tilt their body tail upwards, and disappear with a single 

 stroke. These birds are not, like the Divers, able to catch their prey by pursuing it under water ; 

 when they dive they seem to plunge more or less perpendicularly down to the bottom, and, after a 

 about a minute's absence, again make their appearance nearly upon the same spot from whence they 

 vanished. As it is from the bottom of the water that they obtain their food, even those inhabiting 

 fresh water have necessarily to dive to a considerable depth • whilst those that live in the sea 

 must occasionally plunge still deeper, even to the depth of fifty or sixty fathoms — a fact of which 

 it is easy to convince oneself by examining the contents of their stomachs. A few of them seem 

 to prefer a vegetable diet, but the greater number live upon small bivalve shell-fish and other mollusca ; 

 they likewise eat worms, crustaceans, and fishes, while those that inhabit fresh water also feed upon 

 aquatic insects. The booty thus procured from the bottom is also swallowed under water. The 

 Diving Ducks, when employed in fishing for their food, only come to the surface to breathe. Their 

 voice is totally different from that of the Swimming Ducks ; instead of quacking they only screech. 

 The manner of their breeding agrees pretty closely with that of ordinary Ducks ; still, however, there 

 are points of difference. They breed more in company with each other, and sometimes form regular 

 settlements. Two females even of different species will occasionally lay their eggs in the same nest, 

 sharing the duties of incubation and the charge of the young brood. Some individuals exhibit a sort 

 of mania for brooding ; they will slip into the nests of other birds, roll away the eggs, and take 

 possession of them, or even tempt the nestlings away from their proper parents in order to take them 

 under their own care. The eggs are rounder, the shells more closely-grained than those of the 

 Common Ducks, but in other respects resemble them. Some Diving Ducks are valuable on account 

 of the down with which they line their nests, others on account of the excellence of their flesh, but, 

 generally speaking, the latter is rank and ill-flavoured. 



The EIDER DUCKS (Somateria) first claim our attention, inasmuch as they are not only the 

 largest and most beautiful of the Diving Ducks, but also the most useful members of the family, 

 ornamenting the seas that they frequent, and conferring inestimable benefit upon the inhabitants of 

 the inhospitable coasts where they are common. Apart from their very considerable size, the 

 Eider Ducks are distinguishable by their long slender beak, the base of which extends up the 

 forehead, and is divided by a triangular projection of the feathers ; the upper mandible, which is 

 brightly coloured, terminates in a large nail-like appendage, covering the entire anterior margin of 

 the bill ; the tarsi are short, the feet broad-soled, and the toes long ; the wings are of moderate 

 length, the second primary quill being the longest ; the tertiary quills, which are sickle-shaped, are 

 deflected, and prolonged so as to overlap the primaries ; the tail, which is slightly rounded at its 

 extremity, consists of fourteen or sixteen tapering feathers. The general plumage is soft, thick, and 

 fleecy. In the adult male the prevailing colours are simply black and white ; the head, however, is 

 ornamented with sea-green, and the breast suffused with roseate pink or brownish yellow ; in one 

 species smalt-blue is likewise observable. The colour of the female is brownish grey or reddish brown. 

 All the various species inhabit the colder regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Although the name 



