45 8 THE LIVING ANIiMALS OF THE WORLD 



^--T'-Wf-.,^ 



Fhcio ty IV. F. Figgalt^ 



\^Lelght!}n Bux,x,ard 



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, as 

 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 



EIDER-DUCK 



It is the down of this bird ivhich is so much in demand for quilts 



to the ground by the parent, 

 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. P'ortunatcly this 

 practice has been abolished 

 by Act of Parliament. 



Several very distinct 



i/ho carries them down in her bill. It is some time before 



Fhoto 4i II . I . Piggall] 



SHELDRAKE 



The femalt bird is just entering her nest at the bottom of a long burro'iu 



ILeighton Bu-X,a^ai\i 



