THE BIRDS 213 
black in color, with hooked bills, long necks, and short 
wings, which give them a duck-like flight. The much 
larger pelicans (Fig. 122) are at once distinguished by long 
bills, from which is suspended a capacious membranous sac. 
All these birds are sociable in their habits, breeding, roost- 
ing, and fishing in great flocks. Their food consists of 
fishes, which the shags pursue under water and capture in 
their hooked beaks; while the pelicans, diving from a con- 
siderable height or swimming rapidly on the surface, use 
their pouches as dip-nets. The nests, usually built of sea- 
weed or of sticks, are placed on rocky cliffs or on the 
ground in less elevated places. 
200. Ducks, geese, and swans (Lamellirostres).—The birds 
of this order, with their broad, flat, serrated beaks, short 
legs, and webbed feet, are well known, for in a wild or 
domesticated state they extend all over the earth. All are 
excellent swimmers, many dive remarkably well, and are 
strong on the wing. While a considerable number breed 
within the United States, their nesting-grounds are gener- 
ally farther north, and in the early spring it is not unusual 
to see them migrating in flocks from their warmer winter 
homes. Among the ducks, the mergansers, mallards (from 
which our domestic species have been derived), the teals, 
and the beautiful wood-duck remain with us the year 
round, dwelling on quiet streams and shallow ponds, living 
on fish, Crustacea, and seeds. In the more open waters of the 
larger lakes and along the seacoast we find the canvasback, 
the scaup-ducks, and the eiders (Fig. 123) which supply the 
famous down of commerce. Of the few species of geese 
which inhabit the United States, the Canada goose (Branta 
canadensis) is perhaps the most familiar. During their 
migrations to the nesting sites they fly in V-shaped flocks, 
their “honks” announcing the opening of spring. The 
brant (B. bernicla) is also common in the eastern part of 
the country, where it, like its relations, lives on vegetable 
substances entirely. The swans are familiar in their semi- 
