306 



VERTEBRATES. 



and rushes at him furiously. Down flops the duck or. the ground, 

 and lets the cock pass over him. After running over him once or 



twice, and then jumping 

 on him, the cock is per- 

 suaded that his enemy 

 is quite dead, and walks 

 off on the tips of his 

 toes. Presently the duek 

 first opens one eye and 

 then the other, gets up 

 and quietly pecks the 

 cock again. The same 

 manoeuvres are repeated, 

 until at last the duck 

 Commoa Duck. ^ins, like Fabius, by 



delay, and drives his antagonist fairly ofi' the field. 



The Eider Duck. — The Eider Duck furnishes the cele- 

 brated down in such request for pillows and beds. It is a singular 

 fact, that the down must be plucked from the bird when living, 

 as it seems to lose its peculiar elasticity and softness when taken 

 from the bird after its death. The down is plucked by the bird 

 itself from its breast, for the purpose of lining its nest, which is 

 then repeatedly robbed until the Eider is reduced to laying its 

 eggs on the down from the male bird. These eggs are generally 

 permitted to be hatched, or the birds would forsake the spot, and 

 never return again. So completely does the poor bird denude 

 itself that one female will furnish half a pound's weight of down. 

 The AiiCiD.a! or Auks are never seen inland, but exclu- 

 Bively inhabit the sea-shores. In this family the wings are small, 

 and in some genera useless for fiight. The feet are placed so far 

 back that the birds, when sitting, assume an erect attitude. 



The Great Auk is an inhabitant of the Arctic circle, but 

 is sometimes seen in the northern islands of Scotland. The wings 

 of this bird are incapable of raising it into the air, but serve ad- 

 mirably as paddles when diving. It breeds principally on the 

 shores of Iceland and Spitzbergen, laying, one large egg on a cleft 



